The Ties That Bind
by mypiratecat1
Summary: PostAWE. A spinoff of Calypso's Hand and Thicker Than Water. William and Elizabeth Turner have joined Jack's crew, and are expecting their baby. A storm approaches at sea...and that which happens draws the trio & crew even more closely together. COMPLETE!
1. Chapter 1

_**Disclaimer:**_ _Not mine, never will be, but I can dream, can't I?_

_**Author's note:**__ This fic is yet another offshoot of "Calypso's Hand" and "Thicker Than Water". It might not be as long... it is just a story that has been in my head for a week or so. Some of the elements that are interwoven within this story will be familiar to those who have read my other stories. _

_Will is released from his curse, and he and Elizabeth are members of the Black Pearl's crew. Will and Jack have found out that they are half-cousins through their fathers, and now, a baby is on the way for the Turners. By now, most of my readers know just how I write these characters... I write them as friends... and "nicer" than some like. So it is, in my lovely Pirates World. Pirate Cat_

۞

The way of the world was very much a puzzle to Jack Sparrow, now. In being rescued from the Locker of Davy Jones, and regaining his life in a beautiful flash of green light, he found that he was less vexed than ever by things around him, and he accepted them more readily than he ever had... maybe even more so since he had trouble telling what was real and what was not, these days. The things that were not real to others seemed quite real to him, yet reality seemed far out of his grasp at times. With every day that dawned, he was thankful to be alive and was even more thankful that William and Elizabeth Turner were a part of the crew of the mighty Black Pearl and very much a part of what he understood was the real world all about him.

His cousin, William, was the bravest, best, finest First Mate that a pirate captain could ask for. They had both been through hell together, and had come out of all of it the best of friends and the most loyal of allies. It was only recently that they had found out that they were inexplicably related through a grandmother that neither of them had ever known... their fathers were half-brothers, and had never known it. Jack Sparrow and William Turner were not only best of friends, but were linked by family blood. They were very glad to find out that they were cousins... which explained a great deal about both of them.

It was a happy surprise to the entire crew of the Black Pearl to find out that Elizabeth Swann Turner was with child. Since joining the crew of the Black Pearl after what William called the Dark Times at World's End and the ensuing tribulations that Jack had helped to end, the news that Elizabeth was pregnant was very welcome, indeed. Unfortunately, it also was a vexation for the captain of the Black Pearl that the Turners planned to give birth to the child upon the dark ship where it had been conceived, in William and Elizabeth's own cabin, and he had done his best to change their stubborn minds out of the fears that were deeply ingrained in his mind of his own mother's death... a death that was hastened by the premature birth of her only son.

"Izzy, William... please listen t' reason! A pirate ship is no place t' be havin' a wee one... it's dangerous... it's not especially clean... it's...scary! " Jack had pleaded, his face set in appealing lines and his eloquent hands waving around in front of him in a cajoling manner. His long beaded and bangled dreadlocks swung to and fro as he swayed from one side to the other, just more than a bit nervous at the decision that the young Turners had made.

"No, Jack," Elizabeth had her mind made up, "... we wish to have our baby right here aboard the Pearl. It is our home, and it is safer than land for pirates! Do you want me to have our child in some room above the Faithful Bride Tavern in Tortuga City? Our cabin is cleaner and safer and..."

"But Izzy! Ye forget tha' ye are th' only woman among a crew of men! Ye needs t' have another woman t' attend ye..."

William interrupted, his handsome young face smiling slightly and a hand rubbing habitually over a scarred chest... a scarred chest that contained a living, beating, loving heart that had been restored to him partly by the slightly built pirate captain swaying before them. "... and you, cousin, are forgetting that you, yourself, was born upon your father's ship... was there another woman attending your mother as she gave birth to you?" He knew that he had Jack, there.

Jack swiveled his dark head around to regard William with annoyance. "... how do I know? I was a baby. I don't remember! I don't remember wot I did this mornin'... how should I remember that?" His dark eyes grew wide and he emphasized, "All th' more reason t' not have the baby aboard th' Pearl... look how _I _turned out!" He scowled at the pair, as they smiled back at him.

Elizabeth said, warmly, "How you turned out has nothing to do with the place that you were born, Jack!" she grinned. "The fact that you are one of a kind has much to do with how you have led your life, but that is _not _the subject at hand." She half closed her eyes craftily, and looked at William. He nodded. They had anticipated Jack's reluctance, and were prepared.

"Jack..." William said, tilting his head much in the manner which was Jack Sparrow's habit "... how about meeting in the middle? We wish to have our child aboard the Black Pearl, but how about if we find a safe harbor when the time grows nigh, and we have a midwife aboard? We would rather have our child born among our family aboard the Pearl, than among strangers in a strange place..."

"A midwife?" Jack twitched his mustache. He thought it over, then said, grudgingly, "Welllll...alright... we have an accord..." He frowned very darkly at the smiling Turners and grumped, goodnaturedly, "Bugger...I can't fight both o' ye! I acquiesce!" He put his hands up in resignation and rolled his eyes in exasperation. This argument had taken the better part of an hour, and he gave up. A child would be born upon his ship, and it seemed that there was not a thing that he could do to prevent it.

The Turners put their arms around each other and smiled, triumphantly. Elizabeth then slipped an arm around the captain's slender waist and kissed him lightly upon his cheek. "Thank you, Jack."

The captain pulled away from her, blushed slightly, wrinkled up his nose, and as the young couple chuckled, he muttered, "Stop that."

۞

As the months progressed, so did Elizabeth's pregnancy, with no complications. She was a strong lass, even if she was slender and petite, and the members of the crew subversively made certain that she was looked after. Mr. Ragetti, especially, made sure that some of his share of rations were given to the "little expectant poppet"... he fussed over her, and Elizabeth simply let him without scolding him. The other crewmen were respectful and fond of William and Elizabeth... they had gone through many bad experiences together, and now that the Turners were members of the crew, and William was Captain Sparrow's cousin, they were even more cognizant of the importance of the impending birth of this child. William had spent many months as the cursed captain of the ghost ship, The Flying Dutchman, and had been released from his curse to be reunited with his wife. His release was unprecedented, and as a result, William and Elizabeth cherished every minute that they spent together.

Jack Sparrow had not come away from the terrible, sand swept Locker unscathed. He was damaged... his mind had never been quite sound before, and now his deep eccentricities were more profound, and he had the sad tendency to hallucinate. He was still the best pirate captain that the world had ever seen, but quite often his mind wandered, and his slender body followed it. He was very, very dear to the Turners, and it was not unusual for them to try to look after this endearingly odd man. They quietly kept a protective watch over the one who had saved their lives, their love, and in doing so, their future, even though he didn't know he had done so. The discovery of a family link between William Turner and Jack Sparrow had reinforced the valuable and deep friendship that the trio had formed, and the impending birth of the Turners' baby was the true catalyst that joined all three of them. The miracle of this was not lost upon them.

William and Elizabeth had even made it a priority to share with Jack that which he had not had any prior experience... the anticipation of the birth of a child. He had been quite distant about all of it at first, as he seemed to wish to remain detached, but his curiosity and wonder at the changes in Elizabeth were quite obvious. He did not coddle her, as some of the other crewmembers had a tendancy to do, but as time went by, he would see that some of her duties were assigned, temporarily, to another crew member, and sometimes would evasively ask her questions about how she was feeling. Jack was not known for his tact, and once in a while his candor was quite amusing.

One particular evening, Jack, William and Elizabeth were enjoying an warm evening upon the main deck, their feet propped up, listening to the waters as they lapped gently against the creaking timbers of the ship's sides. Mr. Cotton was at the helm, and it had been a good day at sea. Jack and William were enjoying a mug of rum, as Elizabeth sipped a cup of sugared coffee. She had lost her taste for tea, much to Jack's satisfaction, since tea was a drink of the elite, as far as he was concerned, and he considered a scourge of mankind since it was a principle shipping cargo of the East India Trading Company.

"So, how are yer feet t'day, Izzy? Could ye finally get yer shoes on?" Jack's brown eyes looked at her feet... which plainly had shoes upon them. Elizabeth stared at him for a moment, then said, quietly, "...yes, Jack. See? Shoes."

"Ah." he replied simply, twiddling a long strand of hair around one of his long, slender fingers and staring directly at her shoes. "I didn't see them." He cocked his head to one side and said, "Were they always there?" The Turners looked at their cousin, who looked back at them like as if he was wondering why they were looking at him

He blinked at them vacantly, and looked around at the deck, as though he were looking at an entire crowd of interested onlookers. "Did any o' you see shoes?" He paused, looking at a crate. "I didn't think so...see? They didn't see shoes, either." He swept his be-ringed hands to his side, at the empty space next to him.

He looked directly at the Turners, who looked at each other, then back at him. They had gotten used to his unseen friends by now. William leaned forward, and said to the crate, "Sorry that you didn't see the shoes, mate... " Jack grinned and nodded enthusiastically, "They're right good mates, William! An' they all look like me!" Elizabeth and William always felt a pang of sadness at these exchanges... and were always glad when Jack would seemingly come back to himself.

It was at this point that Elizabeth suddenly jumped a little, and let out with a surprised, "Oh!" William and Jack both jumped with her, slightly, and she smiled at both of them and said, "I'm sorry! The baby just kicked!" She giggled and rubbed her hands over her belly, lovingly. Jack's eyes got as round as saucers and he exclaimed, "It wot?"

William grinned and answered, "It just kicked. They do move about in there, you know." He reached over and took Jack's hand, and the captain immediately attempted to snatch his own captive hand away. "William! Wot th' hell are ye doin'?" Jack tried to pull his hand back, as William just as adamantly pulled it forward. To Jack's chagrin, William placed the captain's tanned hand directly onto Elizabeth's belly, and held it there.

Much to Jack's complete wonder, the tiny life within moved strongly against his palm. His mouth dropped open, and his eyes met the Turners' smiling faces. As William slowly withdrew his hand, Elizabeth placed her hand over Jack's roughened one and pressed it over to one side. "Here..." There was a rolling motion for a moment, and as the baby reacted to the touch, Jack Sparrow nearly melted into a puddle of complete and utter fascination. His head turned from side to side, as he stared, almost rudely, at Elizabeth's belly with enthralled, kohl lined eyes. She giggled, and said to their best friend, "... look, Jack... the baby likes you..."

Suddenly, he smiled, and softly whispered,"...'Ello, baby..."

۞

It was a bright morning upon the sea, with the cloudless blue sky brilliant above the triple masts of the Black Pearl. Elizabeth was resting in a chair upon the deck, entering numbers in a ledger that she and Joshamee Gibbs kept in one of the few honest shipboard activities that a pirate ship partook in... the procuring of supplies while in port. Of course, the supplies were most times not paid for with honest money... the coins that were used to purchase the ship's needs were more than likely plunder from raiding French and Spanish ships... still very much a part of a pirate's activity even if it took even more stealth and speed than it had in the past. Elizabeth was Mr. Gibbs' Quartermaster Second Mate - a title that Jack had made up to simply state that Elizabeth's shipboard responsibility was simply to be Mr. Gibbs' assistant. William had taken over Gibbs' former position as First Mate, and Captain Sparrow's trusted right hand man.

Upon this morning, Elizabeth had been experiencing some discomfort... cramping in her feet, and in her growing belly. Her time was growing nigh, and this was the most uncomfortable that she had been during the entire duration of her pregnancy. She tiredly sat with her ledger upon a barrel that she used as a table, and she kicked her slippers off and rubbed her swelled feet against each other.

William and Jack were watching Elizabeth from the quarterdeck, and as Jack took the helm over from his first mate, he grinned and said, "Cousin... go see t' your wife." William smiled, and silently winked his thanks to his captain. They were miles out at sea, and headed for the safe harbor of Tortuga, as Elizabeth's time was growing nearer and they would need to make port and find a midwife in short order.

Elizabeth smiled as William came down to her, kneeling before her and gently taking her feet into his hands. "I know how ticklish you are... I shall try to be gentle," he laughed, softly. His handsome face smiled, as his strong blacksmith's hands began to knead her toes. Elizabeth had glowed during her pregnancy, and she was even more exquisitely beautiful to William, especially since they had been seperated for so long after the terrible events that had nearly torn them all apart.

"Oooh... thank you, my love," Elizabeth sighed with relief, as her pirate rubbed her feet almost sensually. His loving touch still ignited a pleasing tingle from her head to her toes. She loved him so much, and she reached down to run a hand through William's curly brown hair. He took her hand and kissed her palm softly. They both laughed, as they heard Jack's husky voice teasingly blurt out from the helm above them, "Marriaaaage. Blah..."

Elizabeth closed her eyes and said, "I'm glad that we are getting close to Tortuga. I know that I am not due for a few weeks yet, but I shall be glad to be upon a still ship for once. Don't tell Jack I said that!" Her hazel eyes opened and she smiled up affectionately at Jack, who was gazing out over the horizen, his eyebrows lowering and his handsome dark features becoming concerned. "Will...?" Elizabeth said, warily, "What does Jack see?"

William looked up at his cousin... he had seen this look before, and even after his many, many months as the captain of the Dutchman, even he did not have the answer to the question that every pirate that had ever sailed with Jack Sparrow had about the man. How, on a bright clear day upon the sea, with no sign of anything amiss, was the man always able to sense an approaching storm? William stood up... and he sensed it, also. It was not known if it was from his time as the ruler of the natural seas, or if it was a shared family trait that had been awakened latently, but it was there, and William glanced up at the captain, who was looking down at both of them. His glittering dark eyes flicked from Elizabeth, to William, then with a nod, William read what was upon Jack's mind. This time, Jack was as clearheaded as he had ever been, and his look was serious... send Izzy to safety.

William looked deeply into Elizabeth's eyes, and said, "Go to our cabin. When you made a point to remind Jack that he was born upon his father's ship, you forgot one thing... he was born during a typhoon... let us hope that our baby does not decide to make being born during a storm a family tradition..."

"...but Will..."

William put a finger directly in Elizabeth's face, frowning, and said, "Do not argue." Her eyebrows shot up, and she quietly picked up her ledger book and went to thier cozy cabin. It was uncharacteristic for her to be so meek, but Jack's second sense about storms was not to be denied...

As Elizabeth went directly to safety, William rejoined Jack upon the quarterdeck as his own eyes gazed out over the dark line at the very edge of the horizen off of the port side of the Pearl... the very direction in which they were to adjust their course to make way to Tortuga, still a half day away. The two men both looked up into the billowing black sails, as Mr. Gibbs slowly came up the steps to the helm and joined them. They all stood in silence as the wind began to change direction ever so slightly, and the seas began to roll in a different manner against the dark prow.

As the beads in Jack's hair began to jingle against his shoulders, he looked at his companions and said, "... gents... we are not going to make it into Tortuga by tonight..." he smiled, apologetically, "I do loves t' sail in storms, but just this one time I wish tha' we could avoid one..."

Joshamee Gibbs nodded to his captain, then addressed both of his companions. "Cap'n, I have somethin' that I might need to be talkin' t' both o' ye about... it's about Miss Elizabeth... perhaps I can help if th' need arises..."

Jack and William both stared at Gibbs, then looked at each other, wondering what it was that Gibbs had to say in the light of the fact that a storm was approaching, and Elizabeth had been having cramps all day...

_**To be continued...**_


	2. Chapter 2

۞

As the storm became a darker line upon the approaching horizen, Joshamee Gibbs yearned for a good strong pull from a bottle of rum, but he knew that he could not. He had just spoken to a shocked Jack Sparrow and a relieved William Turner, offering his knowledge of childbirth, if Miss Elizabeth were to start showing signs of going into the early stages of labor. He could feel his captain's astonished, blinking dark eyes boring into his back, and smiled to envision the look that was upon Jack's face when he told them that he'd actually had training in midwifery. He had not gone into any detail, and would not have, even if his two friends had asked questions.

William knew that Gibbs was deft in medical administration when called upon; indeed, he had been there to help care for Jack, recently, when Jack was stricken with deathly illness and a head injury that had nearly taken him from all of them. It was just prior to this illness that William and Jack had been made privy to the knowledge that they were cousins, by the grace of Calypso, and she had also predicted Jack's illness. William had been granted a temporary power to learn what was in Jack's heart, and he had learned so much about Jack's dark and sad past because of it. Jack was unaware of how much William knew about him, but had suspected that something had taken place during his long unconscious state... he did not question anything. The captain felt that something, somehow, had drawn himself and the Turners even closer together as a new family, with new family ties. Joshamee Gibbs had been instrumental in helping the young couple care for the captain after he was nearly killed by the falling mast, and had even taught Elizabeth how to stitch up wounds with a sail mending needle and mending thread. Jack would have a minimal scar in his scalp, in spite of the 12 stitches. The Turners loved and cared about Joshamee Gibbs... he was one of Elizabeth's oldest aquaintances and a trusted friend.

Gibbs stared out over the bowsprit of the Pearl, and knew that he needed to be gathering clean towels and the washbasin that Jack had kept under his bunk, just in case... the captain would have to finally share his precious cakes of soap that he hoarded so jealously in order to possibly help Gibbs to bring Jack's own little baby cousin into the world. Joshamee drew a deep breath, and knew that he needed to get busy... and he tried desperately to overcome the sad memories that his own mind held...

_Joshamee Gibbs was home on leave from the Navy. It was a rare thing, indeed, to be excused for such a common thing as a man's wife having a baby, but the Dauntless was due for repairs and a new fitting out, anyway, and it happened to fall during Ann's time. Joshamee and his beloved had married later than most couples, and they were eagerly anticipating the birth of their child. _

_Ann was, herself, a midwife, and Joshamee had accompanied her throughout Southampton and its surrounding area during many late night calls for help. Most of the women were wives of sailors just like himself, and most were away at sea for months at a time. It was unusual for a man to be taught the ways of midwifery, but there was no physician in their area, and only one other woman who was a qualified midwife, and there was more than enough work to go around. More than just once in a while, it was necessary for Joshamee to assist in bringing a screaming child into the world, as most of the women that were being attended to were not in any mood to argue having a man in the room, with blankets and water next to him, ready to care for the newborn of any sailor much like himself. He had often thought that he would have been grateful, himself, if the shoe were upon the other foot... it would not have bothered him one whit to know that a qualified man was helping his wife attend Ann if it were needed during the grueling pain of childbirth._

_Sadly, there were many times that the Gibbs were also the only ones there to give the last rites to a child that did not survive the dangerous process of being born... and that happened often. Being a softhearted man, it would nearly do Gibbs in to administer to a dead child or a mother that had bled to death. There was no such thing as a sure thing when having a baby, and childbirth was a major cause of death for women. Equally sad was the fact that most of the husbands or sweethearts would not know that their love did not survive until months later... in some cases, they did not even know that their wife or lover was even with child until both were long dead and buried. It was a hard life for those who went to sea..._

_Ann Mahoney was a beautiful woman, red haired and blue eyed, of Irish stock. She was large boned and strong, much like Joshamee, himself, and they had married in their early thirties... she was already considered a spinster until she met Joshamee at a tavern where she served meals. He was already besotted by her auburn locks and laughing eyes by the time that he had asked her to go for an evening walk with him through the well lit streets of Southampton. It was a whirlwind romance, and within just a few short weeks just prior to his leaving on the Dauntless, they were married. He was to be part of an escort to take the new governor of Jamaica, Weatherby Swann, to Port Royal, along with his young daughter, the winsome little Elizabeth. It was during this voyage that they had pulled a young boy from a piece of drifting debris after his ship had been sunk by the legendary Black Pearl... it was then that he made the acquaintance of one William Turner the Second. _

_Ann and Joshamee's marriage was a strong one, and when he was on leave, he would accompany her on her rounds to visit the expectant mothers in the area... it was a rough sea town, and he did not want his wife to walk the streets alone as long as he was in port to go with her, even though she carried a small dagger and was well capable of taking care of herself, if need be. They were two years into their marriage when she found out that she, herself, was with child. They were both thrilled, as they had not expected to become parents this late in their lives. _

_It was during his leave that Ann, indeed, went into labor, and early on in her pains, a message was sent to beckon the other midwife to Ann's side. Much to Joshamee's chagrin, the boy came back with another message in hand, and no Mrs. Bates in sight. The message read, "Am in bed with fever. I cannot attend."_

_As Ann's moans and screams came closer together, Joshamee Gibbs knew that it was going to be up to him to deliver his own child._

_Ann's labor went quickly. Too quickly. She was breathing hard, and there was too much blood. The baby came too fast, and Ann had torn badly. The bleeding could not be stopped, and neither could death. As Joshamee Gibbs held his stillborn baby son in his arms, the love of his life slipped away. Even as he had helped to deliver many children over the last two years, he could not save his own beloved wife and their little boy..._

_She was buried, along with Joshamee Joseph Gibbs, Jr., in the little churchyard just down the cobblestone street from their home. Gibbs had only visited their grave once since he lost them... and it was just upon the last stop with the Pearl. Elizabeth wished to visit Southampton subversively for supplies... Southampton was a Navy stronghold, and was not friendly to pirates... and she wished to have one last chance to reminisce about the last time that she was there as a young girl. Joshamee had told her that he needed to visit the grave of a loved one while there, and Elizabeth sat to rest upon a bench at the iron gate of the churchyard. He did not tell the lass, who was now expecting her and William's first baby, that he was there to visit his own wife and baby son... it would upset her, and it was information that she did not need to know. To her credit, the lass respected his privacy, and did not ask..._

_As he knelt down next to the tiny stone marker, he laid a single rose upon the grave, and recited the Rosary for them. As he crossed himself, he wiped his eyes upon his sleeve, and vowed to his darling Ann and his tiny boy that he would make them proud, if need be. He would find redemption for losing them. He would do his best, and offer his knowledge to William and Elizabeth Turner, if a midwife could not be at hand... if his own son could not be well born, he swore that he would do his damnedest to make certain that the child of Captain Jack Sparrow's cousin, William Turner, would be... _

_"I love ye, Annie and little Josh... I love ye..." And Joshamee Gibbs turned his back upon the grave, took the arm of the bonny lass, Elizabeth Swann Turner, and they slowly walked back the way that they had come. He expected to never return..._

_**To be continued...**_


	3. Chapter 3

۞

There was a light tap upon the door of the cabin that was the Turners', and Elizabeth looked up from her ledger upon the table and said, "Come in..." She knew that there was a serious discussion at hand when William, Jack and Joshamee Gibbs entered, each with a different expression upon their face. William's face was serene... he had seen the worst that this world had to offer as the captain of the Flying Dutchman and the ferrier of the souls lost at sea. His heart had been cut from his chest, he had thought that his love was gone from his arms for ten years... and at one point before that, perhaps forever. William's face was composed and confident. His eyes, beneath his blue bandana, were calm.

Gibbs' face was serious, but determined. It was clear that he had something to say, and it was also clear that he was ready for action of some kind, and Elizabeth suspected that she knew, somehow. They had become very close friends since working together in the capacity of quartermasters, and she knew that something was afoot when he took a chair next to hers and reached out to put his beefy hand over hers in a comforting manner.

Captain Jack Sparrow stayed near the door. His face was an unreadable mask, but his deep, dark eyes were devoid of their usual dancing sparkle. His head was tilted to one side, his hat perched in it's usual crooked fashion upon his head, and as he leaned his scrawny frame almost too casually in the doorway of the cabin, his eyes kept looking out the open doorway out to the sky beyond them. He would let William and Gibbs do the explaining of the plan, if, indeed, it was necessary to implement it. He would supply additional commentary. It was his strong area, he decided.

In the meantime, the captain was fighting off a soft voice that was dancing about in his addled head... he closed his eyes and muttered, "...control... control..." as William stole a quick, worried glance his way. "...Jack... are you alright?"

Jack already had some guilt welling up inside..."Jackie, if only ye had gotten an earlier start t' Tortuga... if only ye'd charted another course... if only ye'd protected yer new family o' cousins, yer loved ones... in th' way tha' ye had hoped tha' you were capable of...maybe we wouldn't all be in this mess..." the voice taunted.

His face was calm, but his fingers twitched nervously as he shoved his hands into his striped sash in order to quiet them. He couldn't talk his way out of anything, here... he couldn't run away. He wouldn't if he could. He was past the point of no return with this young couple... They were his, as he was theirs. His mind was boiling with "if onlys", but his demeanor was calm. Control... control...no more hallucinations... control... he sighed deeply, and glanced at William with a nod. "Have no fear, William..." he smiled a bit. "I'm Captain Jack Sparrow... remember?" Jack sounded less than convincing.

William sat down across from his wife, and took both of her hands into his. As he leaned forward, his dark shirt front opened slightly, exposing the huge, jagged scar across his chest. She could barely see the edge of the tattoo that her handsome, strong husband bore upon the left side... a tattoo that Jack also bore. They had gotten them together, before they left the coast of Africa some months back... matching tattoos that were now their own family crest, a reminder to both of them of their shared experiences and their family ties. William also wore a beautiful handcrafted trading bead upon a leather string about his neck, as Elizabeth did... she had gotten a bead for each of them, as a gift and also a reminder of the feelings that they all had for each other. Jack's dangled at the end of a braid of hair. And William also wore a small tooth strung on to a string of beads from Singapore. A chip of a Kraken tooth. A gift from Jack to his young cousin, to match a Kraken tooth that dangled from the captain's own red bandana... a reminder of what they had all been through... and had lived through.

William's brown eyes looked into Elizabeth's hazel ones, searchingly, for a moment. He spoke. "It looks as though we are not going to be able to avoid a storm..." Jack's eyes glanced over at them, momentarily... if only... if only...if only he had charted another course... if only...

"I know." Elizabeth replied, "... and I have full confidence that the Black Pearl will take care of all of us, as she always has." Elizabeth squeezed her husband's hands, reassuringly, "... I have no fear that we will be just fine, with you and Jack at the helm." She smiled over at Mr. Gibbs, who pursed his lips and decided to speak.

"... Miss Elizabeth, are ye still havin' cramps?" She was taken aback by his question, and stared at him for the briefest of moments. "... yes..."

"... and how intense are they?" Gibbs asked, levelly, his eyes now searching her face and seemingly assessing her. She frowned a little and asked, "Why are you asking these questions of me, Mr. Gibbs?"

Gibbs shifted in his chair a bit, as Jack's eyes went from the sky above, over to his friends, and back. Gibbs cleared his throat and finally said, "I have trainin' in midwifery. In case we don't make it t' Tortuga in time..."

Elizabeth stared at him for the longest moment, then she looked at a smiling William, who was now stroking the backs of her hands with his thumbs. She finally looked back at Gibbs, and laughingly exclaimed, "Joshamee! The very idea! I'm so relieved! Why did you not say so from the start? I don't care if we do make it to Tortuga in time! We can port there for safety if the baby waits, but I want _you _to deliver our child!" She beamed at him... she had never wanted a complete stranger to bring her baby into the world, and this was most welcome news.

As William and Gibbs smiled and patted Elizabeth's hands together, Jack Sparrow turned and stared at all of them, his mouth open slightly in surprise... he then turned his worried eyes back to the angry skies. "Things are gettin' stranger an' stranger in this cabin," he mused, as his companions turned to look at him, "... and the storm is gettin' closer an' closer out there..."

Just then, a bolt of lightning hit the water in the distance, with a clap of thunder... and Elizabeth suddenly gasped in discomfort, one hand shooting to her pregnant belly. Jack jumped in alarm, and he shot his head around to look at her like as if he'd had a heart attack. Elizabeth took a deep breath and said, "Oh dear... I think that the cramps are getting a bit more intense..." And with that statement, the seas took a cue from Elizabeth's more frequent cramps, and began to roll harder, and stronger... like labor pains of a storm about to be born.

Elizabeth suddenly cried out... Jack jumped again... and with help from William and Gibbs, she went to the bunk at the far end of the snug cabin. Looking at each other, Gibbs said, with solid conviction and a chuckle, "Well, I hate t' be th' bearer o' tidin's such as this," he looked at a wet spot upon the floor at his feet, "...but Missy, your water just broke."

Another clap of thunder shook the ship, as Elizabeth looked alarmed, Gibbs went to gather the basin, towels, and his medical box, William put his arms around his wife, who cried out in pain, again, and Jack shouted, "OI! That's it!" and hightailed it for the quarterdeck in a swaying stumble, arms flailing and bandana ends flying out behind him like flags. The storm was about to hit... in more ways than one. The seas and the sky were about to thrash with fury, and William Turner the Second, former blacksmith, former Captain of the famous Flying Dutchman, and Elizabeth Swann Turner, Governor's daughter, former Captain of the Empress and elected Pirate King, and crewmembers of the mighty Black Pearl, were about to become parents upon this day.

۞

As the sky grew black and the wind began to hum between the tall masts, Jack bawled orders at his crew, "LOOK LIVELY, YE DOGS! TRIM ALL UNNECESSARY SAILS! WE HAVE T' KEEP AHEAD O' TH' CURRENT BUT NO MORE'N' THAT! BATTEN DOWN! TIE OFF! MOVE YER ARSES!!!" He took over the wheel from Mr. Cotton, who always gladly gave it over to his captain when a blow was brewing. Cotton hurried down to the main deck to help Marty roll barrels together and tie them off, and Pintel and Ragetti had already climbed the rigging earlier and taken in the smallest of the unnecessary sails. They hurried to take in more.

It was imperitive to save as much sail as possible, but it was also important to keep the ship moving ahead so that Jack could maintain control of her with the rudder. To lose control would cause chaos, and any ship, including the legendary Pearl, could founder if not guided by experienced hands. She was Jack's lady... the captain's love... and the crew knew that he had their lives in his slender, artful hands. The crew also knew to watch the captain, himself. He was the best captain that any of them had ever sailed under, and after he was almost killed by the damaged mast in another storm, they all were mindful of knocking sense into him if it meant his safety. He had been lost to Davy Jones' leviathan beast once, and they had gone through hell to bring him back... and they had almost lost him, again. They were bound and determined to do what it took to keep their captain, himself, from harm.

Jack braced himself, and shoved his tricorn hat tighter down onto his head... the sky was black above him, even though it was mid-day, and the rain was starting. He wondered, absently, if his father, Captain Jonathan Teague, had braced himself in the same manner, with feet planted wide apart and hands gripping the wheel with whitened knuckles, upon the day that he, himself, had been born upon Captain Teague's ship off of the coast of India. He also wondered if his own father had been as worried about what was going on behind that closed cabin door as he was about William, Elizabeth, Gibbs, and that unborn wee one who was trying to join the crew of the Black Pearl.

Jack looked down at the door of the Turners' cabin as it cracked open. William's face appeared to stare up at the heavy weather, and then up to the man at the wheel, who looked every inch the pirate legend that he was. The expression upon William's face let Jack know that this was it.. there was no reaching Tortuga, now...Jack grinned down cheekily at William, and yelled, "Alright, mate, you are exactly where ye need t' be! You stay down there wif Izzy, an' I'll sweet talk me Pearl into singin' a chanty fer all of us! Hang on t' yer lassie an' t' Joshamee Gibbs, lad! We're in fer a hell of an afternoon!" William grinned up at his cousin, and yelled back, "Chanty, first, Jack... then we might need to have the Pearl sing a lullaby to a new baby! Fair winds, mate... it may be awhile before I talk to you again!" And above the wind, a wail of pain came from the depths of the cabin. William disappeared, and the door slammed shut loudly.

As the cold rain began to pelt him, Captain Jack Sparrow knew that it would be up to him and the rest of the crew to try to hold things together with three members of the crew, including his First Mate... and best friend... indisposed. He squeezed his eyes closed for only a moment and swallowed hard, "Come along for a walk in th' park wif me, Milady... I'll caress ye wif love, an' you can keep us all from harm jus' one more time, lassie... one more time..." the captain whispered huskily to the wheel, as he caressed it, his slender form bathed in the flashes of lightning that were crackling all around them...

_To be continued..._


	4. Chapter 4

_**Author's note: **__Thi__s chapter is a little long and surreal, as Jack is trying to hold onto the Pearl and his thoughts begins to wander... a step into his fragile mind. It's random and confusing... but it's what he might go through once in a while. Even the movies' writers said that he came away from the Locker a changed man... who is not less of a man, but who might need his friends more than he used to. Those of you who read my other two long fics will understand his thoughts a bit more... my poor Jack... _

۞

The seas were becoming heavier as the winds began to sing their insistant song among the rigging and the ropes above Jack's head. The black sails were full and straining hard, the waves beginning to rise and fall with more and more strength. The wheel was still fluid in his hands, and the decks beneath his feet silkily rocked back and forth, as the captain swiveled his body in time with the ship, as naturally as if he, himself, were made of water. He kept his firm grip upon the wheel, and as the ship rolled beneath him, Jack's thought began to wander, as they always did during a storm.

He was not alone on deck; but the rain was coming down in such sheets that it was hard to see the others as they were holding on to anything that would pull or sway itself loose. His eyes closed halfway as his mind was flooded with recent memories that were so indelibly hammered into his mind to the point that it cracked...

_...The rain, in sheets... the maelstrom that threatened to engulf the Black Pearl as she was tangled at the top of her masts with the Flying Dutchman... he, himself, flying about upon rigging and ropes, too determined and lost of sanity to be afraid...wild wind and churning, turning black water... battling Jones on the highest yardarm for the Dead Man's Chest, blades flashing, feet dancing upon the beam beneath them, hanging on for his life, dangling from the chest's handle and staring up at Jones blithely as if he were simply standing down upon the deck, looking up... the events that followed that filled him with horror and the sense of failure... his friend, William, with a sword forged by his own hands running him through, his valiant life ebbing away as his beloved Elizabeth watched, holding his face in her desperate hands... the final leap to William's side as Jones was distracted by Bootstrap Bill Turner... and the thrust of the broken sword blade into the living heart of Davy Jones...his own hand holding the young man's in place... part of the crew, part of the ship.. the rebirth of the Dutchman... a thing of beauty with William Turner at the wheel... part of the ship..._

Jack's eyes popped open wide in alarm, as thunder cracked above his head, cold rain pelting his face and drenching him so that he could hardly hold himself up... The ship rocked, almost comfortingly, as the seas lurched up another way and the Pearl rocked with it... even in this hard rain and wind, his mind wandered off into another direction...

_The open sea, his birthplace, his home... sailing along in a small, wooden dinghy which he had christened "The Sparrow's Revenge"... the sun shone brightly, and the single small sail billowed with a crackling noise above his head. He leaned back and took another long pull from an amber bottle of spiced rum... good Caribbean rum... burning his throat in the most pleasant fashion and making his head spin a little. It was good to be alive... until his thoughts would turn to his friends, and the fate that had befallen them. He wondered if the stories were true... the ones about the curse of Davy Jones being lifted if one were honorable and true, hardworking and loyal to the duty assigned... if anyone, William was all of that and more, he told his little pirate companions that were hiding among his dreadlocks. They agreed, and sat upon his shoulders, merrily drinking from their own tiny little bottles of rum... we're devils... and black sheep... and really bad eggs... drink up me hearties... yo... ho..._

His eyes closed completely, as the rain washed over him...

_...Thrashing about in the darkness with sword in hand...being a good man...pain... cold... the belly of the dreaded beastie... sharp teeth... cold, dark ... terrible pain... so cold...so very, very cold...then nothing...oh god...I'm dead..._

_Darkness... then light... Blinding, painful white light... Hot sands, and piercing blue-green sky... A scuttled Black Pearl, and too many weird and fearful beings playing about in his vision. He was afraid... He was alone...He couldn't control his own body, and his eyes were not really seeing what his brain said they were... were they? Pain... hot...then, there they were... his ... friends???... he didn't know, anymore... he didn't deserve this... did he? William... Elizabeth... did they hate him?...she killed him, but it was to save all of them...she killed him, but she was truly sorry... he did not hate her...They told him that he was in the Locker...did they hate him?... he was dead... pain in his chest... was this how it felt to have your heart broken? Even if you're dead? Why are they all here... if they hate him?_

_Pain... his dead gypsy mother... he was being taken away, by harsh hands that nearly tore his thin, frail six year old arms from their sockets... sold into slavery... not even able to understand English, only the Irish Gaelic that was his native language...the back of a hand cracking him across his face and splitting open his eyebrow...scarred forever... he couldn't understand... tears... shackles...beaten... rescued by his fearsome pirate father, only to be abandoned, again..._

_Bill had a new baby son... born back in England of his wife, Mary... the little one needed something special, he reasoned, and he was good at carving... a wee whale, made of teakwood from the Orient... for only being fourteen years old, Jack, ye certainly have gotten around at sea... teakwood... beautiful to work with, and wondrous to the touch... for Bill's new baby son, little Will... a teakwood whale..._

_...no... not the Black Pearl ... Barbossa, ye mutinous bastard... not the Pearl... marooned...no...hot... sand...alone..._

_...Port Royal... in jail for saving the governor's daughter? What kind of justice is that? In jail for being a good man... a pirate brand for freeing slaves and being a good man... who is this young blacksmith with his swords?... a good man... _

_Calypso... the hand of Calypso... granting William's clemency from his curse after he, the captain of the Black Pearl, had petitioned the goddess on William's behalf... the same way that he had petitioned Davy Jones for the raising of his ship... he had helped to reunite William with his bonnie lass, at last, after proving that there were good men... good men... was he one? William and Elizabeth thought so, and told him so... they cared about him... they loved him?..._

_Cousins? What? After all of these years of being beaten down, locked up, bloodied, branded, flogged and battered, accused of crimes and facing the noose, having no family that would claim the bastard son of a pirate captain and an Irish gypsy girl, he had a cousin? And it was William? Did he deserve this? Yes, dammit!!! He DID deserve this! He had paid for his transgressions in the Locker... even for some that he had never commited... the dreaded, hot, frightening Locker... he cared about these young ones, even though he thought that they hated him... but they didn't hate him! He was alive... they had all saved each other... he was redeemed...he wasn't all bad...he didn't mean to hurt them... he'd paid..._

_... a child for his cousins... those two love each other so much... and they need him, as much as he needs them... a child...he loves William and Izzy...he doesn't say it... but they know... and he wants another one just like William ... greedy to the end, ain't ye, Sparrow? ... he wants another one... please...please... they all deserve it...happiness..._

Another crack of thunder and the Black Pearl lurched crazily against the wildly churning water. As the ship pitched and yawed, Jack was thrown against the wheel so hard that it knocked the wind out of him, and jerked him back to the real world around him. He shook his head, and felt sick for a moment, as his lungs struggled to inhale. Finally, he was able to suck in air, and laughed out loud to himself. "Ye bloody mad fool! Everyone is relying on ye t' hang onto the Pearl, an' ye're off in another place in yer head...again! Daft, ye are, Sparrow... but we will hang on! For William and Izzy, eh, my lassie? Where th' hell is Bill Turner when I needs 'im?"

His dark face grinned upward at the raining, watery, blustering sky, only to have his golden teeth glitter in the lightning that was dancing above his head... daft, mad fool! He chuckled, then shouted, "_OI_!" as the Pearl topped out the crest of a massive wave, and the deck dropped out from beneath his soaked boots. "_Whooaaaa_..." the captain spit a dreadlock out of his mouth, and howled as his hat flew off, and a wave hit him broadside from over the railing. He hung on for dear life...for everyone's dear lives...

۞

Elizabeth writhed, as another pain washed over her. The ship was tossing about like a toy, and the floorplanks seemed to be waving like the sea itself. She gripped the blanket that was under her, as her head pressed back against William's shoulder. Her hands searched desperately for his, as Gibbs hurriedly spread out towels and a blanket at her feet... it would not be long, now. The pains were coming closer and closer together... the ship pitched madly and the lantern that hung from the ceiling of the cabin swung wildly.

Elizabeth opened her eyes wide and cried out, "... Push! I need to push! Oh, God, I need to push..." and she gripped William's hands so hard that he feared that they would break. Gibbs looked up, sweat streaming down his solemn face, and said, "It won't be long now! It won't be long, Missy! That's me girl! That's it!"

Gibbs nodded to the young couple and smiled, as Elizabeth bore down, and William held her up against him, "Push, my love! That's it! That's it!" His experiences aboard the Dutchman had calmed him so much, and he was giving her strength... endless strength. She felt his living heart pounding against her shoulders...she drew huge strength, and bore down.

The waves were washing over the decks outside, and the winds were beating against the walls of the cabin... the thunder cracked loudly as Elizabeth Turner screamed out ... she had never worked so hard or hurt so much in her life...

The lantern swayed back and forth, as above, Captain Jack Sparrow desperately tried to make the ride a little easier upon them all...

۞

The rain was still pelting down, cold and hard, and the wind was still howling, and Jack was still clinging to the ship's wheel with every ounce of strength that he had... his feet were slipping, and his hands were becoming blistered. Many of the crew had taken refuge below, but Mr. Cotton and Mr. Ragetti were still above, falling to and fro, trying to keep everything, including themselves and their captain, from washing overboard. Much to their shock, another sound was heard above the gales... another sound that was foriegn to their ears, and a marvelous sound it was... the sharp cry... the sound of a new life... the strong wailing of a newborn baby...

The captain of the mighty Black Pearl strained his eyes through the waves of rain falling through the sails... he was nearly frozen in place and he felt like he could not breathe... another wail of life burst forth ... as the ship pitched madly, he waited and hoped...and stared at the door of the cabin with eyes stinging with salt water... almost willing that door to open...

And that door flew open wide, and Jack's eyes beheld a joyfully waving and jubilant William Turner the Second... the young man flew out of the door and into the storm, pitching against the main mast, and stumbling across the main deck... he held onto the rigging, and pumped his fist into the air at his laughing cousin, "Thanks for making the ride as smooth as you could, Jack! I couldn't have done better myself if I was still the Captain of the Dutchman! I'm the father of a healthy, fine baby _boy_!" William pumped his fist, again, his dark hair flying and his bandana straight out behind him as if they were his own colours. "A BOY!" he laughed at the wind...

Jack shouted back,"...you're not a eunuch, after all, mate!" The wind blew his hair and bandana forward over his face, and he was blinded by a dark, beaded, trinketed mop for a moment, "Aaaa!" He shoved his hair back and grinned, "...and how is Izzy???" His hair blew forward, again. "Bugger! Ow!..." He wondered where his hat was...

"She is going to be fine! Get down here, you scalawag, and meet your new cousin! You hid away when I was reunited with Elizabeth... you'll _not _be hiding this time! You _will _be a part of this family!" William's proclamation was met with a tired grin and a nod. Mr. Cotton grinned up at his captain that he and Ragetti would take the wheel... it would take both of them to do what Jack had been doing for hours, all alone. But then, the Pearl was his girl, and she loved no one else like she loved Captain Sparrow.

As the Black Pearl curtsied to the lightning, danced in the stormy waves and pirouetted with the wind, her crew came above at hearing the shouts of their captain and first mate, holding onto bottles of rum, holding onto anything that they could, to shout "huzzah" and to celebrate life... to celebrate love... to celebrate that they had all survived this far, and that new life was promised to a family that deserved it so much...

Jack Sparrow turned the wheel over to his crewmen, and hanging onto the banister down to the main deck, he carefully, tentatively, tiredly made his way down to his First Mate... who threw an arm across his shoulder in a happy embrace, both of them grinning and becoming soaked to the skin.

Jack stopped for a moment and looked at William seriously, and William grinned widely when the captain waved his hands about between them, and asked, "Ye're not gonna make me hold th' little laddie, are ye, William?" His delicate hands fluttered as if they were building an invisible wall..." He'd cry, bein' held by a fearsome pirate captain such as meself, savvy?."

As they were being pelted with the torrential rain, the Pearl lurched forward suddenly and Jack was thrown sprawling to the deck, feet flying straight up. William, who laughed loudly, reached down and easily pulled the slender captain to his unsteady feet with one strong blacksmith's hand.

"... no, cousin, I shall not make you hold him... I think that it would vex _you_ more than it would vex him..."

"...Ah!" the captain smiled, and they opened the door into the cozy...and _dry_... cabin... and a wondrous sight met their eyes...

_To be continued..._


	5. Chapter 5

۞

... as the door opened to the Turners' cabin, the light from the swaying lantern flooded the small room with a golden glow. The ship was still tossing upon the storm swept seas, but all that Jack Sparrow and William Turner could see was a vision of loveliness. Even in her exhausted, perspiring state, Elizabeth Swann Turner was absolutely radiant.

She was lying in the bunk, her eyes closed and her damp golden hair plastered all around her face. As she opened her eyes, she smiled, and her face lit with a luminescence that would have rivaled the Flash of Green that had warmed it when Jack had returned to the Pearl with the Dead Man's Chest... the Flash of Green that told her that her beloved's living heart had been restored by the hands of Jack, Bill, and the consent and hand of Calypso, herself... the Flash of Green that was the return of her husband's soul and his mortal life... and to her.

Elizabeth's face was now lit with life of another kind. She tiredly held out her hand to the two men that she loved the most... and tried not to laugh at the captain's appearance.

Jack looked, for all of the world, like a drenched, forlorn scarecrow. His hat was gone, his shirt, vest and breeches plastered to his scrawny, thin frame. Salt was beginning to bloom all over him, and would no doubt be highly annoying as it dried. His bandana was drooping over one eye, and those eyes were devoid of all kohl, which had washed away hours ago, replacing his fierce, intense look with a softer, much younger one. His dreadlocks were unraveled, and the longest of his hair that had been wound around so tightly now hung almost to his hips. He was quite unsteady upon his feet, and he and William paused in the doorway as the storm still raged outside. William came forward, took her hand tenderly, and sat carefully upon the edge of the bunk. He kissed her lovingly and smoothed back her hair, and she looked up at him with shining hazel eyes. They both looked at the soaked and worn pirate captain that was rooted in one spot of the floor, staring...

Elizabeth and William looked up at him, and Elizabeth partially uncovered a tiny bundle cradled in her arm... "... Captain Jack Sparrow, now that you have saved all of us and the ship one more time, come meet your cousin..." she whispered.

Jack finally was able put one foot, uncertainly, in front of the other. He felt as though he was made of India rubber, after having held the Black Pearl upright in the water for hours, and as the floor kept rocking under him, his feet made a sloshing noise with each step that he took... his boots were full of water. Dripping, he slowly approached, and looked down at the tiny being that was wrapped in towels.

He was tiny and pink. His face was perfect and chubby, and his head was full of soft, wet brown curls. His mouth formed a perfect pink bow, and his skin was like porcelian. Jack had never seen anything like this in his life... the captain was captivated. Jack's eyes widened and his mustache twitched nervously as the baby let out a tiny sound, much like the mew of a kitten. He backed away, his hands flying up in front of him... "He doesn't like me..."

"He just made a baby sound, Jack," William smiled. "He likes you... come on... he won't hurt you..." William got up and put an arm around Jack's shoulder and made him come back forward. Jack's boots sloshed. The captain muttered, "I'll drip on 'im... he won't like me..."

Elizabeth finally rolled her eyes a little and said, "Come on, Jack... sit down and talk to us. Little Will likes you... come take a look at him. I can't believe that you could face down Davy Jones and be nervous to meet our baby..." she extended her hand to Jack, this time... much to his own shock, he took it, and finally sat down in a chair next to the bunk, staring at the wee one. Elizabeth held him closer for Jack to see, and the captain looked down his nose... which had a drop of rain on the end.

"Look, Jack," William sat back down next to Elizabeth and pulled the towel away from Little Will's face, "He looks just like me." William beamed proudly, "...but he has Elizabeth's ears and nose..." Jack frowned and looked closely at the child, then looked at each of his companions studiously, turning his head to one side and studying them out of the corner of his eyes...

A slow grin spread across his wet face, and he said, "Aye! Look at that! Look at wha' th' two o' ye have done! He's right handsome... for a baby..." The captain turned his head from side to side a bit, beads jingling from his wet, dripping mane of unraveled hair, taking in the yawning face of the newborn.

Elizabeth reached out for Jack's hand, and said, with emotion creeping into her tired voice, " I think it is more of what the _three_ of us have done..." and with that, she nodded to William, who gently pulled one of the baby's tiny pink hands out from under the towel... "He may look like Will, and he may have my ears and nose..." Elizabeth gently pulled Jack's hand to touch the baby's wee one, "But look whose hands he has..."

Jack stared, and his mouth dropped open. The little hand that was ever so slightly touching his was fine and slender, with long, artful fingers, delicate hands... the babe had hands like his own. The captain was utterly speechless as the tiny fingers curled around his. William said, gently, "... the Teague hands... passed down to my son, from our shared grandmother, Evangeline Teague Turner, just as they had been passed down to you on your side of the family... Little Will is all _three_ of us, cousin...Elizabeth, me... and you..."

Elizabeth and William smiled in radiant pride, as the pirate captain's blistered fingers caressed the newborn's tiny pink ones...his hands... such a wonder this child was... the culmination of all of the terrible horrors that they had all experienced at World's End, and all of the trials that they had gone through since...

...from William, as the Captain of the Flying Dutchman, helping his friend, Jack to regain his ship... from William and Elizabeth being seperated from each other for months, until William earned his way back into his beloved's arms, with Jack's help... from finding out from a benevolent Calypso that they were each other's family, and what they all learned from each other as Jack became deathly ill and was nursed back to health by the Turners... they had all been through it, and now... this tiny being was their reward... a new life... combining all three of them...born on a pirate ship during a terrible storm, just as Jack Sparrow had been... born upon a ship that had also seen the worst, and now the most wondrous...

Jack finally found words forming, and he delicately formed a tiny, tiny handshake with Little Will Turner. As he admired the beautiful child before him, he grinned a golden grin and said, softly, "...Welcome aboard the Black Pearl, mate... _Do you have th' courage an' fortitude to..._oh, wot th' hell am I sayin'? O' course, ye do, our littlest pirate..."

۞

Joshamee Gibbs had taken his leave when William had gone to get Jack. He had reassured Miss Elizabeth that things went just fine, and that he would check in upon them when he had disposed of the bloody towels, and had washed the basin borrowed from Jack's cabin. The rain was still pelting down, but the wind was calming some, and the footing was improving. He nodded to the other crew members who were finally coming above deck to put everything back into place. It was always a wonder to them what a sailor Jack Sparrow was... he was able to hang on to the Pearl during one of the fiercest gales that any of them had seen, and for hours... but then, he had all of their lives in his hands, and he took this responsibility as captain very much to heart.

Joshamee sighed heavily and made his way to the bowsprit... a place where he sometimes went to think. He had been there only this morning, just after he had made the offer of his knowledge of midwifery to the Turners, not imagining that it would be needed so quickly. As the heavy seas churned and whipped about before him at the prow of the ship, Joshamee's thoughts were finally peaceful and his mind was finally easing.

He rubbed his eyes tiredly and thought back... to Elizabeth's screams of pain... _he thought of Ann's screams of pain... _to the struggle of hard labor, and the work and pain that it took to bear a child... _he saw his beautiful Ann's face and the terror that she was stricken with, knowing that her own baby was coming too quickly... _he thought of Elizabeth drawing from her deep well of fiery, phenomenal strength, and drawing more from her pirate, her William, as he held her hands and leaned himself into her back to help her... _and he saw Ann's strength ebbing away_... he heard the tiny baby Will's strong, loud cries... _the cries that he never heard from his own son_... for the first time since the death of his own loved ones, Joshamee Gibbs had helped to bring a new life into the world... _the son of two that he cared about as if they were his own children, like he cared about his captain_...

And finally, Joshamee Gibbs felt redemption... he knew, now, that he could not have saved Ann and baby Joshamee... but he had drowned himself in rum after he lost them. That had been a waste, he thought, except for one thing... it was because of their deaths that he met Captain Jack Sparrow... and his lot was tossed in with William and Elizabeth Turner.

"...Annie..." he whispered, as he looked out upon the stormy and wild sea, "... I lost you an' our little son... but perhaps I gained somethin', too..." He smiled a little... and he let the rain pelt him, feeling whole... feeling a bit like a newer man... after he checked in upon Miss Elizabeth in a while, he planned to pop the cork on a large bottle of rum... and drink to his loved ones... all of them.

_To be continued..._


	6. Chapter 6

۞

Night fell upon the western Atlantic waters. The sky was still overcast, and the sea was still choppy, but Jack's presence at the helm was no longer required... he had spent the better part of the day at the wheel of the Pearl, trying his best to smooth out the ride for all aboard... it was enough that he had kept the ship from foundering, and everyone was glad that the lack of the sun's heat made the winds calm down to a gentler mood. Giles Mulroy took over at the wheel... since joining the crew of the Black Pearl, he and Angus Murtogg had taken to active sailing duty very well, and they were surprisingly good helmsmen. Mr. Mulroy, especially, had finally found his true calling, and Captain Sparrow was glad to have another man besides himself, Mr. Cotton and William to take over the wheel... Elizabeth was very good at it, also, but her advancing pregnancy had prevented her from much active duty.

William was not upon watch for this night... his watch was taken over by Marty... and he had retired to bed with an exhausted Elizabeth in his arms. Little Baby Will was tucked into his cradle... a handmade gift from Jack and Mr. Gibbs when it was discovered that the Turners were expecting. William turned his head to look at his sleeping newborn son, nestled into the lace trimmed pillow, softly illuminated in the moonlight that as streaming through the small window of the cabin.

The cradle was a work of art... Jack had designed it with a frame that attached directly to the floorboards of the cabin, and the bed was suspended from that frame, made to swing naturally with the motion of a sailing ship. Gibbs had used his carpentry skills to put the design into fruition. The cradle was dark, polished walnut... just like the Pearl... and Jack's own hands had carved a curly fleeced lamb upon the headboard. Jack was, strangely, talented with carving and drawing, as William had been with his crafting of swords, in a time that seemed to be long, long ago. Jack had spent a time as a youth as a tattoo artist, and he was a very good one. He had been cartographer's apprentice, also, and artistic ability was a requirement for that practice.

A fourteen year old Jack Sparrow had even carved a gift for William when he, himself, was born, for Bill to present to him upon visiting his wife and new son... a gift that William had treasured as a boy, since it was brought to him by his father, from someone simply known as "a friend". This treasure that was lost to William when the ship that he had bartered passage upon was sunk by the very ship upon which he and his family now lived... the Black Pearl. When he was picked up off of a piece of drifting debris and rescued by the Dauntless, William met the love of his life, but had lost the few material possessions that he owned. Including the little teakwood whale that was his last link to his past... his last link to his dead mother and his then missing father... and unbeknownst to him at the time, a link to a pirate named Captain Jack Sparrow.

In a conversation during Jack's convelescence from his illness, William had poured out his heart to the captain about the horrors that he had witnessed upon "The Glasgow Girl"... a slave shipper for the East India Trading Company... during the crossing to the New World, and had emotionally admitted that he had wished that he had not lost his few possessions, along with his innocent view of the world. It grieved William to lose the little whale the most, as it was one of the few things that had brought him pleasure since his mother's death. Jack had promised to carve him a new treasure. He could not restore William's childhood with his mother back in England for him, any more than William could erase the captain's terrible childhood from Jack's damaged mind... but they found yet more common ground in their sad memories. Things were so much different, now.

William had almost drifted off, with Elizabeth nestled against his scarred chest, and his thoughts drifted over the incredible things that had happened to them all in time passed since World's End. It was almost too much to believe... so many miracles... so many things learned... so much trust and faith restored... so much happiness that he never thought would be theirs... slumber finally found him as Elizabeth's soft breath warmed his chest.

Several hours after the Turners had retired, the door to the cabin opened slightly, and a lone figure peeked into the cabin... then, encouraged that all were asleep, he padded in silently, and carefully sat down, crosslegged, next to the tiny cradle. William and Elizabeth both woke up, but neither of them moved... they instinctively knew who it was... and they both smiled in the darkness.

The thin figure curled himself almost into a bundle as he regarded the sleeping infant. He leaned over as far as he could without moving his thin arms and lanky legs, now without boots. Indeed, his appearance was startlingly different than usual in it's near normalcy.

Jack had finally dried off, and was in dry clothing. It was always necessary to try to rinse salt water off as quickly as possible, as the salt would bloom as the water dried and was an annoying irritant to the skin. With the heavy rain, the ship's rain barrel was full and fresh water was at hand, and it was at these times that any crewmember that wished to bathe, somewhat, was welcome to do so... Jack apparently had filled his wash basin and had taken advantage. He was wearing only a pair of his breeches and one of his cotton shirts... the rest of his clothes were probably hanging up to dry.

Even his red bandana was missing... his hair was pulled back over his shoulders, and tied loosely, and it had been rebraided... the scent of hair oil with essence of coconut wafted through the air... oil that was essential for twisting dreadlocks such as Jack's. He almost looked oddly normal... Elizabeth watched him in the moonlight as William squeezed her hand... she could tell that he was grinning in the darkness.

For once, Jack's entire face was showing, even his ears, with their sparkling silver earrings. Anyone would else would have been scared to death, seeing this beaded, trinketed, tattooed wild one sitting next to their newborn's cradle, but all that the Turner's could see was a young looking, curious, beautiful dark man, studying something that was relatively unknown to him until this day. His warm brown eyes sparkled in the soft light, and he slowly, tentatively reached out his slender hand ... his sleeve was rolled up and the branded "P" that was burned into his wrist shone starkly... and he picked up the soft hand of the sleeping baby Will. Even in his slumber, the wee one's fingers curled, once again, around the captain's. Surprisingly, the baby's eyes opened, and he tried to see who it was that was touching him. He cooed, slightly.

Jack grinned, and whispered, almost inaudibly, "'Ello, mate." He crept a bit closer, and leaned over to get a better look at the little one's pink face... the captain shook his head and marveled. "Ye look jus' like yer papa... never thought even I would be able t' see tha' one... I don't know anythin' about babies 'cept where they come from," he chuckled.

"Oi! I almost forgot!" He withdrew his hand and reached into his shirt, to withdraw a roughly wrapped parcel and a piece of folded parchment. "I jus' came by t' leave this wif ye, mate. I thought I might have a wee man-t'-man talk wif ye, but I'm afraid t' wake your mama and papa... they've had a tirin' day." The tiny baby yawned. "Aye, lad... you have, too. We all have."

The captain leaned back a bit and looked at the parcel in his hands. "I made this for ye... in honor o' yer birth." He paused, then smiled at the curly haired child who was considering going back to sleep. Jack continued, "Your mother got me a birthday gift last fall... it was th' first one I'd ever gotten... a bead... see?" He dangled a braid for the lovely African trading bead to catch the moonlight...

"It meant a lot t' me, mate... no one cared tha' I was born, except me mother, an' she died a long time ago... your mother cared, though... it meant something t' me..." Jack's voice had trailed off, and his eyes wandered for a moment... but he then shook his head and looked back down at Little Will. "I won't keep ye, mate... ye needs yer sleep in order t' meet th' rest o' th' crew tomorrow... we're all yer family, ye know... but you are th' tie that binds th' three o' us, right here in this cabin... you're unique... I should know... because I'm unique..." he pouted a little and added, "... no, I'm addled... _you're _unique..."

He reached down once more, and touched the tiny, perfect hand... then touched the soft brown curls upon the baby's head, and he shook his own head, almost sadly, "I hope ye likes wha' I made for ye, wee lil' cousin o' mine... there's something there for your mother an' father, too. I don't think tha' I ever thanked them for... helpin' me when I need it...I hope that they realize tha' I will do whatever I can t' make sure tha' you stay as innocent as long as ye can, lad... tha' ye don't go through what yer father an' I both went through... tha' ye get t' be a child for much longer than we did..." He tucked the tiny blanket around the babe just a little bit, then growled at himself for being so un-piratelike.

With that, the captain silently got to his bare feet, and silently padded to the door. Just then, the tiny baby hiccuped. Jack turned to him and grinned. "Ah!", he whispered, one slender forefinger waving about in the air, "That must run in th' family, too! I'm tired, mate... I plan t' partake of a bottle of rum... maybe I'll join ye wif hiccups, savvy?"

And with that, he slipped through the door, only turning to look one more time... and then rejoining the shadows of the Black Pearl, from whence he had come...William and Elizabeth looked at each other in the dark, and wondered what the captain had left in the cradle with Little Will, and what on earth was written upon the folded parchment that was laid next to it..

_To be continued..._.


	7. Chapter 7

۞

William, smiling, got out of the bunk and lit the lantern above them. "What do you suppose he left behind?" he whispered, turning to his sleepy wife.

"I don't know, but I know that my curiosity is certainly piqued!" Elizabeth grinned, "With Jack, it's no telling... I want to know, too!"

As William checked upon his sleeping child, he reached down and pulled the parcel out of the rocking cradle... the seas were still tossing outside, and the ship swayed pleasantly, her timbers creaking. He returned to the bunk, unfolding the parchment. As he settled in beside his wife, he held the parchment so that the soft light of the lantern hit Jack's unmistakable and ornate handwriting. His eyes widened as he read, then he looked at Elizabeth, softly..."... we must always save this for our son..." Elizabeth's brows went up in surprise at his serious tone, and she said, "Read it, Will..." Will cleared his throat, and began...

_"Dear Little Will, _

_We were not properly introduced at the moment of your birth. I am your cousin... my name is Captain Jack Sparrow. _

_Really, I am your father's half cousin, and I don't really know what that makes me to you, exactly. I think it is a first half cousin, once removed. But I am not sure. That is not important. I am your cousin, simple as that. I am very proud to say that we are related by blood; up until just a few months ago, I thought that I had no family other than my own father, and the two of us are not close. He scares me a bit, so I can imagine how you would feel about him. Too bad, he's your great uncle...he's old._

_Anyway, I am taking quill in hand to write things down for you a bit. You see, I can sometimes write things better than I can say them. I did not learn English until I was about eight years old, so there are times that my words come out of me mouth discombobulated... now there is a word... I can write discombobulated, but I can't pronounce it. _

_Now, then...I am Captain Jack Sparrow, and I am a very famous and legendary pirate captain... you will no doubt hear many marvelous stories about me..._

...William rolled his eyes and Elizabeth giggled...

_... and your parents are also very famous and legendary, for other reasons besides also being pirates._

_Your father, my first half cousin, William Turner the Second, was the Captain of the Flying Dutchman for quite some time, a distinction that no other living person shares, and he is the finest and bravest man that I have ever met. He has a true __living__ heart, and is the best man that I know, bar none (other than your grandfather Bill)... William is my best friend, although there have been times in the past that there might have been doubt. We have risen above that. He sees me for what I really am, which I have tried so hard to not let others see for most of my life. He seems to believe that I am worthy of caring about, and am worth all of the trouble that I have been, and unfortunately always will be. I'm not so sure that I am worth it, most times. He does. _

_Your mother, Elizabeth Swann Turner, is the daughter of the former Governor of Jamaica, and the former Captain of the Empress, bequethed to her upon the death of the former Captain, Sao Feng. She was then made the Pirate Lord of Singapore and Pirate King. I am the Pirate Lord of the Caribbean... it's all political and holds no real power except in the world of pirates, but there it you have it. Your mother is quite the lady... she is full of fire and is a fiesty one, brave and strong, but she can also be very kind and caring. She and your father looked after me when I was quite ill recently, and she can be as full of love as she can be full of fire. Our "Izzy" is very, very dear to me. We have had our differences, but have let bygones be bygones. I would not have your mother any other way than the way that she is. She has even learned to drink rum, much to her credit. She does not burn it anymore... that is yet another story._

_Your father and mother have resigned their captaincies for each other...and for you. The Flying Dutchman involved a curse that we lifted, and The Empress has been bequethed by your mother to her crew, as she had more desire to sail upon the Black Pearl with your papa. Your papa has become my first mate, but our memories of our experiences aboard all three ships will always be engraved upon all of us. Aye, your home is the Black Pearl... that is my ship... the finest and most beautiful ship what ever sailed... the ship that you were born upon, during a storm, just like meself!_

_I am telling you all of these things so as to make you understand the significance of gift that I made for you. Significance... now there is a good word. _

_There was something else that none of us shall ever forget, called the fearful Kraken... the Leviathan...the Terrible Beastie. I shall not go into details, as we have many stories to tell you some day when you are much older, but the Kraken was a very important part of the history between your parents and meself. It almost tore us all apart, only to bring us all back together. It is gone, but in it's horror, it was a magnificent creature. The last of it's kind... _

_We found it dead, upon a beach, during what your papa calls The Dark Times, and Hector Barbossa and I (you don't need to know about him... you wouldn't like him) chipped a large part of one of the Beastie's teeth with the hilts of our swords... I regret that this might have damaged the blade of my sword; it broke rather easily later, but that is another story for later. I must say that even Hector was sympathetic toward my feelings upon that sad day that we found the dead Beastie... once again, we will tell you many stories about it when you are older. The Beastie did harm to me, but I survived, with help from your mama and papa. They have no idea how grateful I am. _

_Anyway, part of the Kraken tooth has become an ornament for my bandana, and I also fashioned a handsome Kraken tooth ornament that your father wears around his neck, on a cord with beads from Singapore. _

_You will find, enclosed, a special gift for your mother... she gets very few pretty things as a pirate, and I thought she would enjoy it. She will understand the design... I drew it out upon the day that they announced that you were on your way to join the crew... Izzy deserves to have pretty things... I thought that she might like this better than getting a tattoo from me... that is a joke, and you'll understand as you are older. I hope that she likes what I made for her..._

_Your gift celebrates your birth, Little Will, by celebrating your family a bit. Aye, a little bit of applause for all of us. It is just the right size for your hand, as I had hoped... I wonder if my own hands looked like yours at one time... your mama and papa say that you have my hands... I am honored, and not just a small bit amazed__. Never expected that..._

_And the enclosed gift for your father? It is also very special... he will understand ... I won't have to say anything else... he will simply understand..._

_It is a wonder that I didn't get caught making these, but your mother had trouble with stairs whilst she was expecting you and I would keep your father busy with all kinds of things so's I could carve them down in the rum cellar. These gifts, made of a Kraken's tooth, are so that we never forget who we are, and never forget the things that brought us to where we are, now._

_I want you to always be proud of who you are, Little Will. You are a combination of many, many interesting people. Your family has a tremendous history, like no other family. Family is very important... I know, as I did not have a family before now. __Always remember, with pride, wee little cousin of mine, that we are a family of pirates, and we have our own special kind of pride...we are like no one else... we are The Pirates of the Caribbean._

_I remain, faithfully, your cousin, _

_Captain Jack Sparrow_

The Turners sat in silence for a few moments. They had never heard anything like this from Jack. He had opened his mysterious heart to a baby boy... born only that very afternoon, just as he had very slowly been opening his heart to them. Silently, and together, they opened the parcel.

The first gift that they saw was a comb... a comb fashioned to ornament a lady's hair. It was carved so that it was so thin and delicate that the light shone right through it, and upon it was a hand engraved design... two beautiful and graceful swans, one larger than the other, their long necks forming a stylized heart. Elizabeth gasped... swans... her maiden name... Swann... her father's name...her eyes welled up with tears.

As she examined it more closely, the tears began to fall down her cheeks. With his unsuspected artist's hands, the captain had carved into a piece of the Kraken's tooth the beautiful pair of swans, with a tiny cygnet - a baby swan - peeking out from under it's mother's wing. Above their heads, perched on a trailing weeping willow branch was a tiny, slight sparrow... it's wings outspread. Elizabeth was overcome... it was lovely, and she had given up everything or had lost everything like this that she had ever owned. She did not have anything like it, nor had she ever had anything that had meant so much, as it was created by one that she loved.

As she dried her tears, William slowly held up a gift that was meant for tiny Will... it was a whale, also carved of Kraken tooth, creamy white and highly polished. Elizabeth gasped in delight, as the piece of art also was engraved with images... on it's port side was a rendering of the Empress... a proud and beautiful Chinese junk that had helped to bravely hoist the colours at the Battle of the Maelstrom... on the whale's starboard side was the reborn and beautiful Flying Dutchman, bursting forth from the seas, majestic and powerful... and upon the little white whale's back was the Black Pearl, her sails billowing and the water splashing from her sides...

As William turned the little whale over to look at it, he laughed. Elizabeth looked at him quizzically, wiping her eyes. William just grinned and said, "You weren't there... you wouldn't appreciate the humor..." as he looked at the whale's underside... and saw a tiny etched rendering of a little wooden dinghy, with a pirate flag... The Sparrow's Revenge was carved on the whale's smooth belly.

As the young couple looked through the wrapping for the last gift from Captain Jack Sparrow, William caught his breath. He stopped for a moment, as he and Elizabeth both caught sight of the light shining off of their golden wedding bands simaltaneously... wedding bands that Jack and Bill had made sure that they had fashioned from the hinge of the Dead Man's Chest... and as their baby stirred in his cradle, everything came full circle for William Turner the Second... his eyes shone, as he beheld his gift from his cousin... his friend.

... the final gift, with Kraken tooth chips set as its eyes, was a finely carved and highly polished whale... a teakwood whale... just like the one that a fourteen year old whelp named Jack Sparrow carved for another baby boy named Will, over twenty years ago...

_To be continued..._


	8. Chapter 8

۞

The next morning dawned pink and orange upon the horizen, and with cool breezes across the waters there was promise that it would be a beautiful day. The storm of the day before was just a dark line off of the edges of the ocean that was now behind them, and Jack Sparrow would look behind, off of the Pearl's stern, to frown at the tempest that had torn some his precious ship's sails. It was minor damage, but damage of any kind to the Black Pearl was never taken lightly by her captain. Otherwise, the Pearl had fared well, and as he looked over her beautiful lines from his place at the ship's wheel, he could not help but swell with pride. She truly was a miracle, his ship, an absolute work of art. He smugly ran his hands over the smoothness of the wooden wheel, and smiled... his lovely Pearl, his lovely lady...

As Jack was lost in his reverie, he almost did not notice the door of the Turners' cabin opening slightly, and then completely, and William stepped out upon the deck, without his bandanna, his shirt tails hanging, stretching and yawning, blinking his eyes in the bright sunrise. Looking up at his cousin, he smiled broadly, and decided to climb the steps up to the quarterdeck to join him. As he joined the smiling captain, who was also enjoying the warmth of the sun upon his dark face, William said nothing... he merely nodded good morning and lightly patted Jack's shoulder.

Jack turned to him and said, "So, William... how are things this morning?" It was such a general statement that William did not know quite how to reply. He decided that it was best to be direct, and replied, "I have never had such a strange night in my life, and that includes my time spent upon the Flying Dutchman!"

"Oh?" was Jack's only comment, looking at William closely out of the corner of his eye. William clasped his hands behind his back, and cleared his throat.

"Well, it seems that there was someone, or some_thing_, in our cabin last night... I happened to be dozing when a very strange thing happened. The door to the cabin opened, and I could have sworn that a leprechaun entered into our room! It left gifts and a letter from you, and it certainly did not look like you..."

"A leprechaun??? Nonono, couldn't be." Jack frowned darkly at his smiling young first mate, "Leprechauns are ill-tempered little devils... there be no leprechauns aboard me ship," he paused, and with a delicate hand, he lifted the dreadlocks from one shoulder and whispered, inexplicably, "... no, mate... ye're not a leprechaun... yer jus' a little bitty 'me'..."

As William slightly shook his head in bemusement, Jack blinked and looked back at him, still frowning, "Leprechauns... we weren't near Eire, an' _I'm_ too tall for a leprechaun..." he stopped frowning, as a smile tugged at the corners of his lips.

William looked at the captain out of the corner of his own eye, this time. He drew in a deep breath of fresh salt air, exhaled, and said softly, "...thank you, Jack...we will always cherish the gifts that you made...we do not know what we would do without you..."

It was a comfortable relationship that the two of them had, now... well deserved for both of them. Jack also drew in a deep breath, and answered, "... you're welcome, lad... th' feelin's are mutual...even more so upon my part..."

۞

It would only be a matter of hours before the Pearl would reach Tortuga, as sea gulls were beginning to circle gracefully in the ship's wake, and the crew's mood was a merry one. It had been a very, very long voyage... they had not been back to Tortuga or the Caribbean since just after the trials and tribulations at World's End. So much had happened since then... Hector Barbossa had commandeered the Pearl, and Jack had cast himself upon the mercy of the seas in his little dinghy with nothing but a pilfered chart to find the Aqua de Vida, several bottles of rum and a mind oblivious to the danger that he had placed himself in. It was during another storm at sea that Captain William Turner had found Jack, knocked out by his own oar in the bottom of his boat, and had taken him aboard the Flying Dutchman.

They had all been rescued... Jack, William, Elizabeth and the entire crew... physically, and emotionally, and now here they were. They were a family, alive, well, and there was now a beautiful newborn baby boy in their midst... it was a happy pirate crew that was going to take a well deserved rest in Tortuga City.

As the sun rose in the morning sky, the aroma of fresh coffee rose from the galley, as the crew gathered for a simple breakfast prior to readying the Black Pearl to sail into port. As Jack took his mug of coffee at the wheel, everyone else gathered about with steaming mugs and hardtack rolls... real food in port would be very welcome after the voyage across the Atlantic from the last stop in Southampton, England. It was a clandestine stop for supplies, and only Mr. Gibbs and Elizabeth had gone ashore... mostly for Elizabeth to take what might be her last look of the country where she had been born. It was not hard for her to leave... it had not been home since the crossing to Jamaica, and even Jamaica was not home any longer. Home was the cozy little cabin aboard the Black Pearl.

The crew turned and looked, as the door to that cabin opened, and Elizabeth emerged... she was smiling broadly as Mr. Cotton, Mr. Ragetti, Mr. Pintel, Murtogg, Mullroy and Marty all gathered around, as she held in her arms a small basket... a small basket with two tiny pink hands trying to move the blanket that was covering a wiggling form underneath it.

William beamed with pride, as Elizabeth looked gorgeous upon this dawning morning... her golden hair had been curled, and was swept back from her face upon one side, held back by a lovely comb, carved with a design of swans. As the crew gathered around her to see the new baby, she looked up at her two men at the helm... her handsome, tall husband, and his slight dark cousin, the captain of the ship, both of them with their hair blowing and sipping their hot coffee.

"... please let us see th' wee li'l fellow, Miss Elizabeth..." Mr. Pintel smiled, "... we waited a long time t' see 'im..."

"... oooh, look at all o' 'is hair! Curly, like Mr. Will's..." Mr. Ragetti marveled, "... a fine 'andsome, lad, 'e is, Miss Poppet... I mean, Miss Elizabeth..."

Mr. Cotton smiled broadly at the baby, as the parrot flapped his wings and squawked, "... shiver me timbers!..."

Murtogg and Mullroy both gathered close and Mr. Murtogg said, "A fine addition to th' crew he'll be..." and Mr. Mullroy added, "... just like we were!"

"... He'll be climbin' de riggin' soon..." Marty exclaimed, and he then frowned as Elizabeth uncovered Little Will for all to see, "...he's already taller dan me," he said ruefully. Everyone laughed at his unhappy observation.

The only one that sat apart from the rest, sipping his coffee and enjoying the scene, was Joshamee Gibbs. As Elizabeth walked over to him, he said warmly, "And how are you feelin' this mornin', Missy?"

William joined them with a cup of coffee for Elizabeth, as she slowly sat down next to Gibbs, after William had rolled up a blanket for her to sit upon, carefully. She took Little William from his basket, and held him for Mr. Gibbs to see. "I feel wonderful, Mr. Gibbs." She reached over and put an arm around his neck, kissing him upon his whiskered cheek. "... I have yet another hero, now, to add to my list..." Gibbs blushed deeply, as he cleared his throat.

William leaned over and said, "Josh, we would not have been able to have our son safely if we had not had you to help Elizabeth, and had not had Jack to hold onto the Pearl. We are so grateful to you... thank you." William reached across to pat Mr. Gibbs upon his knee, as the older man said nothing for a moment.

Gibbs cleared his throat again, and looked down at his coffee mug... he wiped his eyes a little as he looked into the face of this beautiful baby, the sun shining upon him for the very first time. His soft brown curls blew slightly in the sea breeze, his cheeks were rosy, and his little eyes opened to look up at the blue skies and at the Pearl's sails above his head.

Gibbs said, very softly, "I needs t' be thankin' th' two of you... only Jack knows about me past, an' he was a good enough friend t' not tell you two..." As he wiped his eyes, again, he said, only loud enough for the young couple to hear, "... thank ye for givin' me back some faith in meself... th' last babe tha' I delivered was me own son... he an' my wife didn' make it... when we visited the graveyard in Southampton, Miss Elizabeth, it was t' say goodbye t' my wife an' my own boy, as I know I won't ever go back..."

William and Elizabeth looked at each other, and then looked at this man who had become like another father to both of them... their old friend from the crossing to Jamaica, who had been the first to raise a toast to Jack Sparrow in Tia Dalma's shack... the first to say "Aye" to find his friend at World's End... and the first to offer his knowledge to bring their child safely into the world.

Elizabeth took Joshamee Gibbs' mug from his hands, and as she smiled, she handed the wee bundle to him. "Little Will..." she said to the tiny baby, "... here is the first one that you saw as you were born... we hope that he does not mind that he is now your adopted grandfather..."

Mr. Gibbs held the child close, and said, emotionally, "... good mornin', laddie... I'm honored..." Little Will's slender, long Teague hands reached up, and touched Gibbs' smiling face...

۞

Jack tied the wheel off to join the others down on the main deck, holding onto the railing as he swayed, trying not to spill his coffee... William and Elizabeth looked up, puzzled, as he stopped, midway, and said, to no one... "No, you may not have my coffee, ye swabbie! Go t' th' galley an' get yer own!" He changed his demeanor only slightly and said, in a more polite tone, "... bring me a peanut, will ye?... an' sliced limes... I likes those." As he stood there for a moment, he then shook his head violently and blinked hard. "Where was I?" he muttered, as he resumed his way down the steps. "I hate when I do that...s'gonna be a long day if I keep that up..."

He joined the Turners and Gibbs, parking himself in a chair next to the table where they had been talking, and he propped his feet upon the railing, just as William had. They all enjoyed the sun as Little Will feel asleep in Mr. Gibbs welcoming strong arms.

"So!" Jack said, smiling at the young couple, "Are ye goin' t' give th' little whelpie a name fer th' middle? I know tha' those of Izzy's former social station in life loves t' give looooong names." He emphasized his point by slowly spreading his hands gracefully out wide. He looked at the baby, and said, "... when ye can talk, little laddie, ye have t' learn t' make a statement... ye inherited my hands, so use 'em t' your advantage!"

"We haven't decided yet, Jack." William smiled, "I don't have a middle name, but Elizabeth has two, believe it or not!"

"Izzy! Ye never tol' us that!" Jack swiveled his head around and looked at her in surprise.

Elizabeth rolled her eyes and said, "That is because I deplore my second middle name!"

They all looked at her expectantly as she frowned at William for exposing a much hated secret. As they all stared at her, she sighed and said, "My full name is Elizabeth Anne _Eugenie_ Swann Turner."

Jack started to chuckle, "Eu - _wot_ - ie?" William bit his lip. Elizabeth punched the captain soundly upon the arm, making his coffee slurp over the side of his mug. He chuckled more and said, "Sounds quite high tone. Aren't ye glad ye had a boy? Eugenie!" He screwed up his face.

"My father's name was better," Elizabeth reached over and touched her baby's hair, "... Weatherby Arthur Charles Swann..."

"Aye, that's better," William took a sip from his mug, then sighed and said, "but our son does not seem like a Weatherby... with all due respect."

Elizabeth curiously turned around and looked at the remainder of the crew, as she said to them collectively, "Strange, we have all known each other for a very long time, and you are all our friends, but we don't know your first names!" She smiled and said to Mr. Pintel, "What is your name, Mr. Pintel?"

The rotund pirate looked up from his coffee in a startled fashion, and stared at her. He smiled with pleasure and said, "Well, poppet, my first name happens t' be Leon!" As chuckles went around, he growled and said, "An' the rest of ye has better names?"

Elizabeth giggled as Jack, William and Gibbs looked at each other and mouthed, "Leon???" Elizabeth smiled, and said, "Very noble, Mr. Pintel..."

"Rags... what about you?" Elizabeth smiled at the younger pirate that had helped her with so many things during her pregnancy. He looked up at her, shyly, and said softly, "My name is Mac... Mac Ragetti."

"Wonderful, Mr. Ragetti! I shall try to remember to call you 'Mac' now and then!" Elizabeth said, nodding. "We already know Angus Murtogg and Giles Mullroy, as well as Mr. John Cotton and Joshamee Gibbs. How about you, Marty? We only know you by your first name."

Marty looked all around at his companions, and glared, "None of you ha' better laugh, or I'll cut th' ropes o' yer hammocks!" They all nodded, curious now that he had made that statement. Marty stood up and straightened up to his full height, "My name is Martin Jacques de Bouvier Chevalier..." he nodded with pride and added," My father was French."

They all stared, as Jack tilted his head to one side and his eyes got as round as dark moons. "Bugger! Hell of a good name, that! An' all I got was 'Jack'...might change it t' Jacques..."

And with that statement, breakfast was over with, and they all set about getting about their tasks prior to shore leave... Jack took the helm, again, as William prepared to go to the hold to check the condition of the weapons that all would make sure to have at their sides, once they docked in the famous haven for all pirates... Tortuga.

Even if it was a haven, it could also be a place of danger if one was unprepared... William, as first mate and weapons master, would make sure that none of the Black Pearl's crew would go ashore unprepared... he only wished that he could be so sure that his cousin would as well prepared, since the captain's own sword - an old friend to the captain's thin hand - had been broken by the claw of Davy Jones...

_To be continued..._


	9. Chapter 9

۞

The sounds and lights of Tortuga City were just at the end of the Black Pearl's lowered gangplank, and the members of the crew were busily completing their duties prior to their much deserved shore leave. It was the first time that they had visited Tortuga since Hector Barbossa had taken the ship, and so much had happened to all of them. The ship was back in her rightful captain's hands, with William Turner as her first mate, and to find out that the captain and the first mate were family was an even bigger relief for everyone involved. For pirates, they had become a very tightly knit crew... Jack was a firm but benevolent captain, sometimes to his detriment as far as maintaining the possession of his ship was concerned in the past, but he would never change in that respect. The crewmen that served under Jack, now, considered the Pearl their home, and even though the captain was given to some mental flights of fancy now and then, they respected him and genuinely liked him.

They had received reports from Captain James Norrington and his first mate, Bootstrap Bill Turner, that Captain Barbossa, and his ship, the Calypso's Hand, were in the seas off of the coast of South America...still considered in the vicinity, but not immediately in the waters of the Caribbean, much to Jack's relief. James Norrington, along with his other duties upon the Flying Dutchman, kept watch over Hector and his crew. Things had been going very well for James, and William had been called to help him only once since gladly relenquishing his position to James, and that was only to help James learn more the record keeping of the Flying Dutchman... a task that William had worked upon day and night to update after the negligence of Davy Jones.

James took on the duty of keeping tabs upon Barbossa with great relish, as it was an amusing pastime apart from administering to the souls of the departed. He had enjoyed watching Hector; it was a great deal like his duties in life had been, except that he had many, many more interesting weapons in his arsenel... as powerful as the Royal Navy was, it did not have a ship like the Dutchman, nor could just anyone sail her. James had decided, once all was said and done, that the afterlife, at this point, anyway, was more rewarding than his mortal life had ever been.

As the crew of the Pearl were making their plans, Jack was a bit worried about leaving the ship, himself.

"William, I would love t' have you and Izzy and little Will accompany me t' find a good plate o' grub... but..." Jack's eyes scanned his ship, then landed back upon William and Elizabeth's sympathetic faces. Jack's husky voiced continued, more quietly, "... we worked so hard t' get her back last time... we worked so hard t' accomplish so many things, did we not..." his voice trailed off as he looked at William plaintively, his eloquent hands waving ever so lightly as he spoke.

His young first mate knew exactly what the captain was thinking...they had worked so hard to make things right with all of them... not only had they regained the Black Pearl, symbolically it was the start of their new lives, together. They _had_ worked hard. William's arm was around Elizabeth, and she was lovingly, but absently, running her hand over William's strong... and scarred... chest as she listened to Jack. The captain held symbols and things that could be remembered by holding a token or two in one's hand in utmost importance. Now that his mind was not always reliable, these tokens that could be touched with a graceful hand helped him to keep one booted foot planted firmly in the reality that sometimes escaped him. His Pearl was more than just a symbol for all of them, she was their reality... as well as the wooden fortress that guarded the baby boy that they all loved, who was safely sleeping in his cradle.

"Jack", William said, "You deserve shore leave more than anyone. You are the captain of the ship... you have more responsibilities than anyone..."

"Not when I can delegate 'em t' you, cousin," Jack grinned, dark eyes sparkling.

"...well... that's true..." William admitted, "... but let us digress..." His handsome face took on an expression much like Jack's might, with his eyes rolling upwards and a finger tapping his chin. Elizabeth chuckled.

"... since Elizabeth and I are perfectly capable of guarding the ship while you are in town, generally raising hell, it would seem that you are wasting valuable time that could be spent working upon reasons for good, firm slaps from your girls, Scarlett and Gisele..."

Jack rubbed his jaw and frowned, then his countenance slyly and wickedly broke into a very naughty grin. The Turners could not help but start laughing, as the captain said, brightly, "You're right. If I know two o' you, th' little laddie who is slumberin' in 'is beautiful hand carved cradle probably already has a teeny, tiny little sword an' 'is mother's pistol under that laced trimmed pillow."

Jack stood up straight, put his hat on... crookedly, yet rakishly... and turned toward the gangplank. Suddenly, he stopped, and gracefully turned back to the amused young couple who were watching him, their arms about each other. "... I know tha' neither one o' ye enjoys wot Tortuga has t' offer as much as th' rest o' us...an' there's nothin' wrong wif that. But it would be good for th' two o' ye t' get off th' ship whilst we're here... there are nice places t' dine here, an' it would be safe for wee Willie...I'll make sure tha' Mr. Cotton an' Marty will take on some guard duty..." he nodded, hopefully, "... you, especially, William, need some time upon land... ye both have earned it."

Jack started back for the gangplank, then swooped about again, his dark face serious for a moment. "...whilst ye're on guard this evenin', I will send out some good victuals fer ye from th' Rooster's Tail... they have good food..." then his dark eyes narrowed and a golden smile spread across his face, "... ..thank you fer watchin' me girl fer me... now I thinks tha' I will saunter into town an' drink, sing, gamble, an' watch some girls, meself...might not jus' watch 'em, either..." With that, he winked and happily made his way down the gangplank and into the street, whistling "Two Hornpipes", beads and trinkets merrily jingling in his hair, dreads swinging from side to side like vines.

William and Elizabeth both smiled as they watched the captain wander up the dock... it was a wonder that his natural walk didn't send him right off the side and into the water. William looked down at Elizabeth, and said, softly, "I have no fear that you are completely capable of guarding the Pearl, my love. Our plan will go into motion soon... but let's let him have a bit of fun for a while without me following him around to make sure he's safe..."

Elizabeth squeezed William in a tight embrace. "We can't let him sail off in another dinghy. But Gibbs and the rest are in town, so he should be alright for a while... or as alright as they can be in Tortuga," she smiled. "... but we shouldn't let Jack be out on his 'onesies' for too long. In the battles at sea, he is unbeatable, but in a battle in a tavern... welllll..." she shook her head. She looked up at her husband, and they looked into each other's eyes for a long moment. They could not be off guard for any length of time while docked, but it was broad daylight, and anyone could see that they had swords strapped at their sides.

They leaned against the Pearl's ornate railing, and sank into a deep, soft, happy kiss...

۞

Several hours passed, and Jack was as good as his word... before he settled into some very happy drinking, he sent a boy out to the docks, with a basket of good food for his cousins. The Turners were delighted to see fresh bread, cheese, roasted chicken, mangoes and a small bottle of table wine for their enjoyment. There was no note in the basket, but the young man who delivered it said, proudly, that it was from Captain Sparrow. It seemed to make the young man rather full of himself that he had taken the order from the captain, personally. William chuckled to himself, as he and Elizabeth enjoyed their meal, that Jack must have never been involved in brawl at The Rooster's Tail.

As darkness fell, Elizabeth armed herself, and contentedly perched herself upon some crates at the gangplank. Little William had been fed and attended to, and was once again, in his cradle in the cabin, the door propped open so that he could be heard if he fussed. She had a book and a lantern, and was nestled into her little arsenal of guns. Even surrounded with weapons, she looked strong and confident, and was looked every inch a pirate woman. She had removed her treasured Kraken tooth comb from her hair for safekeeping, and had her own battered tricorn pulled down low across her face... she did not need the trappings of a governor's daughter, nor the silks of the captain of the Empress to impress... she was gorgeous and yet intimidating in her naturalness, and William loved her for it.

William leaned down to kiss her, and said, "I don't know just when I might be back... I will check upon you from the dock, now and then, my love..."

As she raised her hand to pat his cheek, Elizabeth smiled and said, "It is not the Pearl that we need to worry about, my darling... she is being looked after by the Pirate King..."

"... and the Pirate Prince!" William exclaimed, nodding toward their cabin. It was true. Elizabeth would be just fine... it was Jack that they worried about.

With one final squeeze of their hands, William turned and headed down the gangplank, himself. The last time that he was here, he was standing in a longboat at the docks. He was with Jack, and they were here to get Gibbs in order to regain the Pearl... and he, himself, could not set foot upon land... he was still the captain of the Flying Dutchman...

William shook his head as he thought about this. How he and Jack had changed things! He was walking along the cobblestones, taking in the not always pleasant ambience of Tortuga, glad that he could set foot on land, even if his land legs were a bit wobbly. It felt good. And as his mind wandered back to the very first time that he, a naive blacksmith, had wandered these streets with a madman that he had broken out of the Port Royal Jail, he grinned... who would have thought...

Just then, above the general din, he heard a loud ruckus from the general direction of the Faithful Bride, and he heard shouting and the name of "SPARROW!" being shouted, as the unmistakable sounds of tables being overturned met his ears...

... William sighed, and bolted toward the tavern, unsheathing his sword as he ran...

_To be continued..._


	10. Chapter 10

۞

Elizabeth looked up from her book as the soft warm breezes wafted over the ship from the bay. The town of Tortuga City was lit up as if it were daytime, torches burning in the streets brightly, the usual cacophany of sound coming up the gangplank. This was one part of pirate life that she did not partake in much... the nightlife of this place was truly nightlife, and she was always more content to walk the streets during the daytime hours, when they were all but deserted. There was usually much debris and the ocasional drunken pirate to step over ... thank goodness it was never any of _her _pirates, she thought with a grin. She was about to settle back into her reading when she heard something at the bottom of the gangplank... she immediately picked up a musket, and shouted, "Who goes there?"

The noise stopped, and she then looked down to realize that there were two forms upon the dock below... two feminine forms. They looked up at her. One was taller than the other, both were dressed garishly, but both were ravishingly beautiful, in a downtrodden way. "Permission to board th' Black Pearl... we come in peace, dearie... friends o' th' crew..."

Elizabeth thought it over only for a fleeting moment, then finally said, "Permission granted..." She knew these two... and knew that they would pose no threat. Scarlett and Gisele... two woman of the evening that were very well known upon this island and upon the smiling lips of almost every pirate in the Caribbean.

As the pair walked quietly up the gangplank, their skirts held up in their hands, they looked up at Elizabeth with almost shy smiles. The one with the flaming auburn hair seemed to be the older of the two, and she was the one to speak first.

"Thank you, Mrs. Turner... we were told tha' ye were here all by yerself, an' tha' ye have a brand new baby..."

The younger of the two, a stunning and tall blonde with bright, blue eyes, added, "... we thought tha' ye might like t' have a bit o' company fer just an hour or so... "

Elizabeth regarded the pair for a long moment, and then said, in an almost cool manner, "And how did you know that I was here alone? Did Jack tell you?"

The two women had expected such a reception, and they glanced at each other knowingly. They had absolutely no intention of putting forth any kind of deception upon this woman, who was fast becoming a legend in her own right. They simply wished to make sure that this one, a good friend of their friends aboard the Pearl, was alright alone, especially with a tiny baby sleeping in the cabin behind them.

"... I'm gonna be right forward with you, Mrs. Turner." the auburn haired woman replied, "It wasn't Jack Sparrow that told us you were 'ere, and we weren't tol' that you needed protectin'... we were told by Marty tha' ye might jus' need t' know tha' you 'ave friends upon this island... "

Elizabeth looked at the pair with a bit of surprise. "Marty?"

"..Aye, Mrs. Turner." the blonde replied. Elizabeth marveled at the loveliness of these two, even if it was a world weary loveliness. The blonde continued, "... this is Scarlett Price... and my name is Gisele... Gisele Chevalier... Martin Jacques De Bouvier Chevalier is my half brother..."

۞

As Elizabeth swallowed her shock, Scarlett and Giselle smiled at her. Elizabeth stammered, "Oh, I am forgetting my manners... please sit down!" She removed the pistols and one musket off of a two of the crates next to her, and the pair gathered their skirts around them and seated themselves. "I am happy to meet both of you... I ... hear of you quite often..." Elizabeth was trying to be careful about choosing her words. She was genuinely pleased that Marty had mentioned her to the two women, and this only made her think that they were to be trusted all the more.

"... so we 'ear that you had a baby boy!" Scarlett smiled, "... you an' your Mr. William. An' isn't it wonderful wha' we 'eard tha' he and Jack are cousins? Marty told us much o' the adventures tha' all o' ye have had, an' that your husband is now free o' bein' the captain o' th' Flying Dutchman, an' that Jack had been sick... an'..."

Elizabeth grinned at the enthusiasm that the pair were showing in the retelling of the stories of the recent past... and she settled in to get to know these two women better. In another time and place, the daughter of the Governor of Jamaica would have never been allowed to even walk the same street that was frequented by prostitutes, but she had learned from Jack Sparrow to never, ever take anyone at face value... and many had learned the same thing about the Governor's daughter... she was also not what she seemed.

She sensed from their ensuing conversation that these two women were no different than she was... that they were all where they were because of circumstances... because of choices that they had made. She learned that they did not really know Jack Sparrow any more than anyone else did, and Elizabeth counted herself to be one of three people that knew all about Jack's past... the other two being William, and Jack, himself. And Jack did not know what the Turners knew about him... that was between William and Elizabeth. They were made privy to Jack's life by the benevolence and grace of Calypso, and it was granted to them in order to know what was in his tightly locked up heart. He was their family... and it was because of this knowledge that they loved him, and did their best to protect him from himself.

But even knowing as much as they did, she learned much from these two soiled doves that were two of Jack's friends... Elizabeth blushed a little to think of what ways the three knew each other, but she then sadly thought that there had to be more to their friendship than just that.

"...remember how I first met Jack, Gisele? He was sick, then, too...Aye, Mrs. Turner, he was jus' a skinny young slip of a thing, then...'e was thrown off o' a ship an' I found 'im right under these very docks... 'e was sick with pneumonia, an' the crew didn't want t' take care o' a scrawny, sick deck hand like him...they left 'im behind... I found 'im and took 'im in fer a few days until 'e was feelin' better... tha' was a long time ago... I was 18, an' I think 'e was about 14 at th' time... 'e stayed on Tortuga until 'e hooked up with an old friend, Bill Turner, again... Bill 'ad been on another ship at the time, an' 'e heard tha' Jack was here, so he came t' find 'im...Bill had been in England, spendin' time with 'is own new son...your husband, Mrs. Turner..."

".. please..." Elizabeth smiled, as it was very plain that the two before her were enjoying having another woman to talk to... someone different who was a friend of friends. "Call me Elizabeth... I feel as though I already know both of you.."

The pair raised eyebrows and giggled a little, "No doubt by the power behind th' slaps that we deliver t' th' one that deserves them, no matter how he denies tha' one." Scarlett said, pulling the decolletage of her bodice up indelicately. She rolled her eyes and said, "What we won't let that man get away with..." Elizabeth blushed again.

Scarlett smiled and said, "... oh, now, dearie... I know what you're thinkin'... th' scamp owes us money, but not for _that,_" she laughed, "he sometimes leaves us with bar tabs, and likes to gamble wi' us, only t' skip out on anteing up... he is a true scamp in th' truest sense o' th' word, but that's a part o' his charm...he can be a dear most times..."

Gisele grew strangely quiet for a moment, and added, "... he has come through for us when we needed a friend, too..." she hesitated, as Elizabeth poured small glasses of the table wine for all of them... "... Jack once shanghied a man ...to save me..."

Elizabeth straightened up and leaned forward to listen.

Gisele fell silent for a long moment, sipping the wine that Elizabeth offered, her weary blue eyes becoming distant..." ... I was engaged, once... I wanted t' escape Tortuga... I fell for a sailor who was th' most handsome thing tha' ye ever saw. But he beat me..." The brilliant blue eyes began to glisten. It was plain enough that the pain of the experience was still fresh in the beautiful woman's mind and heart.

Scarlett reached over and took Gisele's hand. Elizabeth got up from her seat upon a barrel, and sat down next to the tall young blonde, careful not to rumple the voluminous skirts gathered about her... Elizabeth noticed just how thin this woman was...and wondered if it was because she was naturally slender, or of it was from too much drinking and for wont of good proper food.

Tears welled up in Gisele's eyes as she continued, "... Jack arrived on Tortuga wi' Gibbs one time... it was when Jack was still searchin' for th' Pearl th' first time... they wondered where I was, as they hadn't seen me in a couple o' days, an' Scarlett told 'em... she was always against my bein' engaged t' my fiance', an' I shoulda listened..." she squeezed Scarlett's hand as she went on..."Jack an' Gibbs found me... I was just about at my worst... I had two black eyes, an' some of my hair had been pulled out... my wrist was broken... I couldn't work..."

Elizabeth slipped an arm around the woman who was now openly weeping,"... my fiance' came in upon all of us, an' Jack flew into a rage, an' you know that is not like Jack... he said tha' no one should ever strike a woman... for any reason. A fight ensued, an' my fiance', who was a very strong man, nearly beat Jack t' a pulp, until Gibbs was able t' knock 'im out wi' a chair... they tied 'im up, gagged 'im, threw 'im into the hold o' a ship bound for India an' told 'im t' never come back or they'd kill 'im . Nothin' was ever said about it here on Tortuga..." Gisele swallowed hard, "... th' man needed killin', but he never came back again.'...I think that because o' this, Jack may have saved my life..."

Scarlett handed her friend a handkerchief, which Gisele used to blow her nose indelicately, and she turned to Elizabeth and proclaimed, "Jack an' Gibbs taught us how t' defend ourselves... you'd be surprised at what ya might find strapped under these petticoats... I can hit a rum bottle dead on at twenty paces wi' a gun, and I was taught by th' best. Don't tell Jack I said that."

Elizabeth hugged Gisele across the shoulders, and tried to brighten things up..."I know how that is... I have hidden weapons many times," she smiled to herself, thinking of the arsenal that she was capable of concealing upon her person... even Barbossa had been shocked in Sao Feng's bath house at her talent for subterfuge with weapons.

Brightening, she decided to change the subject, "Would you like to meet my new baby? I am rather proud of him... he will probably be just waking up for a feeding soon..."

The two women smiled as Elizabeth went into the open cabin door and brought out a sleepy Little Will, whose small pink fists waved about in the air, much like Jack's would. As they exclaimed in delight, Elizabeth allowed each of them to hold the newborn. They fussed over him, and Elizabeth studied them, as they wistfully made cooing sounds to her son. She found herself feeling a kinship toward these two women of the street... she no longer regarded them as the simple whores that most might make them out to be, but as human beings who, like herself, were existing in a world that they could not control... they had emotions... they had hearts... they had love... they just had to do the best that they could with what life dealt to them.

And Gisele was Marty's half sister... it was obvious that the small pirate, who was a native of this island, had a Caribbean mother while Gisele's might have been English.. it was not for her to ask, she thought to herself... it was simply more ties that bound her pirate family. An odd family, but a family, nonetheless.

Elizabeth smiled warmly as Scarlett and Gisele praised what a fine job she and Will had done in producing such a beautiful child, and marveled at the fact that he had his Cousin Jack's beautiful hands... and she knew that she, too, could be friends with the two most famous prostitutes on Tortuga... for they had not always been prostitutes. They were, first and foremost, women... tough women, like she was...

... as they sat together in the warm evening air, Elizabeth suddenly was aware that there was another presence upon the Pearl... that they were being watched... no one had gained entrance to the ship by way of the gangplank, so she knew exactly who it was... and she excused herself from the presence of Scarlett and Gisele, making the excuse that she needed to put Little Will back in his cradle...

_To be continued..._


	11. Chapter 11

۞

As William ran into the front door of the tavern, sword in hand, a massive melee was in progress, a fight that was on a grand scale, even for the Faithful Bride. Tables were turning over, candles were splattering on the floor, chairs were flying, bottles were breaking, bodies were tossing and in the middle of the din, a drunken voice was shouting, "Ye lyin' scab! Sparrow, I'll bloody kill ye!!!"

William's eyes searched frantically for Jack as he ducked and swayed, finally taking shelter behind the bar. The shouting was deafening as a chandelier swung above and a mug, full of ale, flew past his head. He finally spotted the captain of the Black Pearl, skittering up the stairs to the second floor balcony, eyes wide and hat nearly knocked off, being pursued by an extremely large and extremely inebriated sailor whose nose was already bloodied and a bit off center. The man was in a black rage, as Jack managed to stay just ahead of him on the stairway, both of them scrambling over other brawling fight participants... much to William's horror, he saw Jack's hands desperately tugging upon the hilt of his sword... a sword that was _not _the one that he had used for fifteen years, and that was stubbornly stuck in a scabbard not meant for it.

William leaped out from behind the bar, sword flashing, throwing anything and everything that he could put his free hand upon, anything to make it to the stairway. He averted his eyes for only a moment, and when he looked back, Jack had been caught by his hair, and was being pulled backward... of course, Jack was howling in protest at this indignity, but it did not matter, as he completely lost his footing and fell back, feet flying up, and landing squarely upon his opponent. The two of them tumbled down the steps, as, absurdly, a small band of pirates in the center of the room struck up a sprightly chanty.

William, in desperation, picked up a potted plant and bashed another pirate in the head to get him out of the way, shouting, "JACK!!!" at the top of his lungs. The sailor that was wrestling poor Jack to the floor was screaming, "I'll kill ye, Sparrow!"

Just then, another sword was flashing at his side, furiously, it's owner screaming like a wild banshee, in a surprisingly feminine voice, "Not our cousin, you won't!!!" William turned in surprise at his side, he had been joined in battle by a highly incensed Elizabeth. He grinned as she fought like a tiger beside him... her husband's cousin - their best friend, and the captain of the ship that was her little family's home - was being threatened, and she was not taking it lightly.

Together, they made their way quickly through the crowd, just as they saw Jack get completely pinned to the floor by the boot of a drunken man nearly twice his size, whose intent was clearly to send him back to The Other Side. As the wildly angered pirate raised his sword to deal a death blow, William caught him from behind, deftly flipping the sword from the man's hand with his own, and knocking him completely cold with a swing of his free fist. Elizabeth scrambled to pull Jack to safety, as Jack's hands still struggled to pull the stubborn sword from the unrelenting scabbard.

As they tried to untangle Jack from the sailor that had collapsed in a heap on top of him, two loud gunshots blasted out, and plaster fell from the ceiling, and the entire din stopped, as a furious, deep, unearthly voice thundered, "Bloody stop this right now, ye scabrous hounds! Ye've made me namesake an' me only grandson cry!!!"

Standing upon the bar, as if he had simply materialized out of thin air, smoking pistols in his raised hands and bright blue eyes flashing with fury, was the tall and almost ghostly form of a livid Bootstrap Bill Turner... and standing in the doorway of the Faithful Bride was an equally livid Gisele Chevalier, holding a crying Little Will.

"Even if I serve th' Flyin' Dutchman, all o' ye are in th' presence o' three generations o' th' Turner family, including baby Will," he yelled, as silence fell over the tavern, "..ye're also in th' presence o' three generations wot have served th' Black Pearl! The Turners are th' family o' Captain Jack Sparrow! If ye take him on, ye takes on _all _of us, an' I wouldn't advise that!!!"

A murmer broke out among the crowd, as pirates let go of each other, swords were slowly sheathed, and the chairs that were still whole were uprighted. Elizabeth hurriedly sheathed her sword and ran over to Gisele, whispering her thanks with a smile, and gratefully taking her crying newborn son, as William helped Jack finally get to his feet, brushing him off and then hurrying all of them out the front door of the tavern and onto a side street.

As they all stood there and stared at him, Jack rubbed the back of his head where he had nearly lost several dreadlocks, then looked back at all of them. He stared at them all for a moment, then muttered, inexplicably to each of his shoulders, "Oi! I thought that's why they called it Liar's Dice, didn't you, mates?" He smiled brightly as he looked up at Bill, who was shaking his head at the captain, and starting to chuckle. "... good t' see ye, mate!" Jack broke out a bottle of rum that he had slipped under his coat, pulled the cork with his teeth, and offered it to Bill.

Gisele and Elizabeth fussed over baby Will, as Bill took a swig of the rum and explained, "Captain Norrington gave me leave for a few days t' come meet my new grandson, here... ye can imagine me surprise when I got t' Tortuga City only t' find out that William, here, had not checked back with Elizabeth. She an' I were wonderin' what might be th' problem, when we heard th' ruckus from th' Faithful Bride clear out at th' docks..."

As she rocked a quieting baby in her arms, Elizabeth continued, "Luckily, Scarlett and Gisele had come to visit me while I was upon guard duty," Elizabeth smiled at her new friend, as Gisele made little sounds to baby Will,"...and once Papa Bill could sense both of you being in trouble, I grabbed my sword, Gisele packed up Little Will, we left the Pearl in capable hands, and we got here as quickly as we could..." she smiled proudly and added, "... Little Will might as well start getting used to having pirate blood..." Bill grinned broadly as he squeezed daughter-in-law across the shoulder, admiring his new grandson.

"... thank goodness all of you got her that quickly, my love," William said in a relieved tone, now that his son was content, and no one was injured. Turning to Jack, he said in an exasperated tone, "Jack, what did you do to get that son of a barnacle so riled up?"

Jack twiddled his fingers in the air, cocked his head and smiled. He fished his hands around in the pockets of his coat and much to everyone's surprise, he pulled several purses, filled with coins, out of the depths of cloth. Grinning slyly, he said, "I may be one hell of a liar, but I am an exemplary thief..."

Suddenly, it dawned upon him what Elizabeth had said a moment ago about guard duty aboard the Pearl, and his head swiveled around, alarm beginning to build in his entire thin body... "Izzy... when you said tha' ye left th' Pearl in capable hands, jus' who were ye talkin' about? Did Cotton or Marty come back t' th' ship? Even Gibbs?" He thought for a moment and frowned... no, Gibbs was not a particularly capable guard.

Elizabeth grinned and chirped, "Oh no, Jack... the Pearl is being guarded by Scarlett! She cuts a pretty intimidating figure with a musket in her hands!"

Jack blinked at her hard, for a moment, then chuckled, "... I _know_ how intimidating she can be... I also know just how _capable_ she is, too... a lassie of many talents..." the captain purred, a big smile lighting his face, taking the bottle of rum back from Bill and taking a long pull. Gisele considered slapping him, but thought better of it and refrained. She simply laced her arm around Jack's slender waist and shook her head at him, the feather in her blond curls dancing in the warm breeze.

As they all started to walk back toward the docks, Jack shrugged to himself and thought that perhaps he might just have to pay both of his girls the money that he had owed them since the last visit to Tortuga, especially since he had lined his own pockets well at the Faithful Bride. Scarlett and Gisele had helped his pirate family come through for him, again, and he thought it best to square things with them, his old friends... at least to avoid a slap that might be waiting for him at the top of the gangplank for causing all of this trouble... the biggest regret that he had, resulting from the evening's activities, Jack thought sadly to himself, was that he had caused Little Will to cry.

۞

William was strangely silent as they walked. His thoughts were filling his head, and as he would occasionally reach over and pat Jack upon his swaying shoulder, guilt gnawing at him. Jack took things in such a blithe manner, and once again, William was never quite sure just what Jack's scrambled mind perceived. He looked down at the scabbard that was swinging at his cousin's side as they walked along, and rubbed a hand over his own scarred chest. His heart was taking a bit of a turn as he thought about what might have happened to Jack had William not come along when he had. Jack would probably be lying dead or dying, at the bottom of the stairway of a tavern.

This caused William to stop in his tracks. The very thought of it nearly overwhelmed him. This man had saved his life so many times... he had held William's hand to stab the heart of Davy Jones with a broken sword, to keep William from being one of those waiting to be ferried to his final rest. This man had taken Elizabeth away from the Dutchman as it churned into the depths of the maelstrom, saving her life and keeping her from seeing the horrible truth that was the curse of Davy Jones. This man had been the main instrument in the plan to free William from his curse... he had been the one to bring the living heart back to the Pearl, in order to restore it to William's own body, losing two of his own teeth along the way... and because of this, William and Elizabeth were together, with their precious new baby. This odd man, who loved William and Elizabeth and Little Will, but who was afraid, until recently, to accept the same from them... had almost been killed because the weapons master of the Black Pearl had not sent him into Tortuga suitably armed, as Jack's own sword was hidden away aboard the Pearl, with it's broken blade. William swallowed hard... and the guilt gnawed harder.

Jack stopped and swung around to look at the stricken young man, and, seeing the look in William's eyes, he turned his head from side to side for a moment and said, quietly, "William... are ye alright?" They all stopped and regarded William, as he simply stared into Jack's dark eyes, his own revealing his deep, dark feelings of regret.

Jack walked back to him, and put his hands upon his young first mate's shoulders... shoulders that had borne much. He knew exactly what William was thinking, as he saw him look down at the useless sword, stuck in the scabbard.

"William... cousin... it's alright, mate. We'll figure out wot t' do about th' sword... let's get the littlest pirate back t' his wee safe cradle, savvy?" The captain patted both of William's shoulders and nodded, adding, "... ye happened along at th' right time, mate... ye have t' remember tha' I have lived this way - on the edge an' fightin' all th' way - all of me life, eh?" His head kept turning from side to side, beads jingling and a smile playing at the corners of his dark mustache... there was a small glimmer of gold.

William nodded back, and replied, with some emotion in his voice, "... I promise you that it does not mean that you must _keep_ living your life this way, Jack... ..." and as he looked at his father, who regarded his son and his nephew with warm smile, he said, "... I promise you that... and I keep my promises." He threw an arm around Jack's bony shoulders, and they headed back toward the docks.

And as they approached the Black Pearl, William knew what he had to do...

_To be continued..._


	12. Chapter 12

۞

Joshamee Gibbs was almost sick with worry... he had meandered back to the Black Pearl after taking in only a single bottle of rum in town, in order to check upon Elizabeth and Little Will, only to recieve a very gruff and unfamiliar "Who goes there?" in a feminine voice that was definitely not Elizabeth's. His shock was even more compounded when he looked up the gangplank and saw the silhouette of a voluptuous woman in a tight bodice and full, flowing skirts, curled hair piled high upon her head. That flaming auburn hair was adorned with feathers, and a large musket was pointing straight at him.

Once he had identified himself, Scarlett put the musket down and beckoned him to hurry up the gangplank... once she told him the story, he was nearly beside himself until he saw a very strange sight making its way down the wooden dock. In the lead was Gisele, walking arm in arm with Bootstrap Bill Turner, whom Gibbs had met during the parlay with Barbossa over the Calypso's Hand. Upon Bill's other arm was Elizabeth, holding a blanketed Little Will... she was sharing a laugh with her companions, as Gisele would lean forward to speak to Elizabeth, smiling and gesturing with her hand as if to be telling a joke about Jack. And behind them walked a quiet William, and a seemingly jealous Jack, who kept trying to get Gisele's attention, only to be rebuffed. William was quiet, Jack was pouting.

"... there ye are!" Joshamee exclaimed, as he extended a hand to help Elizabeth to the deck, "I was worried about ye! I came back an' I only found Scarlett! Laddie!" Gibbs almost took the babe from his mother's arms, so anxious was he to make sure that the sleeping child was alright. Elizabeth patted Gibbs' beefy hand and said, comfortingly, "Everything is alright, Joshamee... Little Will fared very well upon his first shore leave..." As she saw the look in Gibbs' eyes, she gently put her arm around his ample waist and embraced him, slightly. "The baby is fine... we all are..."

Gibbs reached for the tiny one, who was awake, by now, gazing at Joshamee with his brown eyes. Gibbs made no bones about his fondness for this child, and smiled down at him, chucking the babe under his chubby chin and holding him close... Elizabeth smiled at the sight. What a good father Gibbs would have made... and how grateful she and William were to have had Joshamee there to help bring their son into the world, with Jack Sparrow trying to hold the Pearl upright in the water upon that stormy day in what seemed like weeks ago, although only two days had passed.

As drinks were poured all around, Scarlett and Gisele reluctantly said their goodbyes... Elizabeth approached the two ladies of the evening, and said, "Thank you for coming by to introduce yourselves to me... it happened at a most opportune moment..."

Scarlett smiled and whispered, "Ye sound like Jack." As the three women exchanged meaningful glances, they all put their arms around each other... they knew that they had all made a new friend, and that was something that was not plentiful in the world that the three women found themselves inhabiting. Friendship was a luxury... a newfound friendship that the trio hoped to rekindle in every time the Pearl docked in Tortuga City...

۞

Elizabeth had turned in for the evening to feed Little Will and put him to bed in his cradle. Elizabeth, herself, was weary, and thought that she would also go to bed, and William had reassured her that he would follow in short order. He had poured another round of rum for himself and his cousin, as Gibbs and Bill were sitting up at the bow, telling each other tall tales of the sea and making a dent in yet another bottle of good Tortugan rum. Bill, no doubt, had some good tales to tell about serving upon the Dutchman. Gibbs, on the other hand, had plenty of stories to tell of his time in the Navy, and of course, they both had tales to tell of shared experiences with Jack.

William put his mug to his lips and looked at Jack.

"...where do you keep it, Jack?"

"Keep wot, whelp? I keep lots o' things in lots o' places... depends upon which 'it' or 'wot' you are askin' about... most ways, I jus' might remember where it ... or wot... might be..." the captain muttered into his own mug, almost blowing bubbles as the rum reached his lips.

"The broken sword..." William looked over his mug of rum at the captain, who was well on his way to being gloriously snockered. Jack was nearly asleep with his feet propped upon a barrel. At this, Jack coughed a little and opened his eyes wide to look at William. His brows disappeared up under his bandana, then lowered into a frown. He took his feet down from the barrel and leaned forward, his dark eyes searching William's. "... wot d' ye have in mind for it, lad?"

William did not answer. He merely smiled slightly and took another swallow of rum, as Jack's frown disappeared, and he put down his rum. Apparently what he had to say required both hands.

"William." Jack said, his hands emphasizing the name as though it were the answer to a question, "... I have it put away in me cabin... it's one o' those things that I do not enjoy lookin' at... it was a good sword in it's day, lad, but..." his voice drifted off, as his eyes became vacant. "It was a good sword, but its broken... Jones broke it... it stabbed..." He fell silent... his hands stopped... his eyes became empty...

William sat forward directly, and took both of Jack's arms, which had stopped in midair, by the wrists. "Jack, don't retreat into your head... Jack... don't talk to the shadows, talk to me...Jack..." As he slightly shook the captain by his arms, Jack seemed to snap out of it and stared at the young first mate. "Wot? Wot were we talkin' bout... someone interrupted me... didn't they?"

William sighed and let go of Jack's thin wrists. The captain ran his fingers lightly over his bandana in a puzzled manner, then blinked slightly and said, "Oh, yes... the broken sword. I lost my train of thought for a moment..." he cleared his throat. "Let's jus' say that I put it in a place where neither of us would have t' look at it, lad..."

William took another drink of rum, as a darkness fell over his cousin's face. Even now, it seemed that Jack felt some sort of misplaced guilt for helping William stab the heart of Davy Jones... for seperating William and Elizabeth for such a long time... he could not seem to get past that. Even after all of the good things that had happened since, Jack could not get past that...

Trying to get back upon the subject, William said, "Alright, I will be straightforward about it, mate. You might have been killed tonight because of the sword that I equipped you with."

"... but I wasn't killed." Jack pointed out with both forefingers waving as if to test the wind. "I am sittin' here, right as rain."

"Jack," William was becoming exasperated with his cousin, again, for his willingness, even now, to skirt the issue. "Your broken sword was perfectly balanced for you. Not too heavy in the blade, weighted properly at the bottom of the hilt, made for someone strong, but light in weight..."

"... are ye callin' me a lightweight, whelp, cuz I can drink ye under any table in Tortuga...I know that ye thinks I'm scrawny, but..."

William glared at Jack, and the captain knew that young Turner was dead serious... a state that Jack did not care to visit too often... he'd had too much dead serious recently. Finally, after William's icy face outglared his, he acquiesced... "Alright, I agree. It was a damn good sword, lad, but the weight that it bears is more than jus' th' fact tha' it rests well in me graceful little hand... " Jack finally sighed, himself, and said, quietly, "I put it away after ye left on th' Dutchman... I couldn't bear t' look at it, knowin' it sent ye away from all of us..." Jack turned his face into the dark shadows.

He turned back to William, tilted his head to one side, and said, "... I know what it is like t' be completely alone, Will." It was the first time in a long time that Jack called his cousin by his nickname. "I have been alone most all o' me life. I will come right out and say tha' I know tha' me brain is pretty much fried, son...because of solitary confinement in me own personal hell, courtesy of Davy Jones. When that broken sword stabbed th' heart, I know that ye lived on in another form... but I sent ye t' your own personal hell, didn't I?" Jack's eyes were hard, and his mustache twitched ever so slightly, "I didn't let ye die, but I didn't let ye live, either..."

Silence fell between them, as William watched Jack's anguish fill his eyes. Jack continued to stare at him, and William saw more and more of the Locker in the back of Jack's mind... coming forward into his eyes as though being carried upon the wave of crabs that bore the Pearl in the sandy hell that would haunt the captain for the rest of his life, along with so many other horrors. William leaned forward and said, gently, "That's all over with, Jack."

Jack's eyes softened, as they both heard the sounds of Elizabeth voice, singing a soft lullaby... a lullaby like Jack's mother used to sing... his eyes began to drift, again, then his head snapped up and he looked at William, almost desperately.

Abruptly, Jack blurted out, "William, if anything ever happens t' me..." William's eyes grew wide with surprise, as Jack looked straight at the closed door of the cabin of the Turners. "If anything happens t' me... make sure tha' everyone knows tha' th' new Pirate Lord of the Caribbean will be _your son_... he is th' closest thing that I have t' an heir... I bequeth th' title of Pirate Lord of the Caribbean... and captaincy of th' Black Pearl... t' him."

Jack's voice trailed off again, as his hands slowly opened and his arms swept up to the masts and rigging of the mighty dark ship that was their home... Jack's home... his prized possession .. his very life. Never had he ever willingly said that the Pearl was anyone else's but his, and now he was bequething it to Little Will.

William looked at Jack in total shock. Their eyes met... then, William leaned forward and poured more rum for both of them. "Nothing shall happen to you, my best friend... we shall make certain of it... but it is good to know that you think of my son - your cousin - as your heir..." William smiled at a serious Jack Sparrow, ".. we think of him as your heir, also...he belongs to all of us..."

Jack slowly smiled...then said, almost in disbelief, "Are ye really tellin' me tha' ye want t' fix me sword? I didn't think that ye'd ever want t' lay eyes on it, again..."

William grinned back, "You have said that you always envied those that had one of my hand forged swords, Jack... now's your chance..."

Jack thought about it for a moment, then said, matter-of-factly, "Well, then. I will bequeth tha' t' Wee Willie, too, savvy? I wonder where we might find a smiffy in Tortuga City, as it were..."

"A 'smithy', cousin?" William chuckled at his cousin's fractured English.

"Aye... a smiffy." Jack smiled, his eyes sparkling. Oh, how he loved having a family... and how lucky a man he was that his family was named Turner. Little did the captain know that William and Elizabeth planned to make Little Will Jack's heir in an official manner...as it were...

_To be continued..._


	13. Chapter 13

**_Author's note:_** _This chapter was inspired by a conversation with purplediamond7. Just something a bit angsty that adds another little twist to the mystery that is our Jack. Pirate Cat_

۞

Jack had happily passed out with drink by the time that Bill and Gibbs came aft from the bow, both of them smiling broadly from spinning yarns and putting away one bottle of rum. It was only enough to give Joshamee a slight bout of pleasant dizziness, and Bill was never affected. Gibbs had decided to call it a night, and so he made his way to his hammock whilst he still could. Jack was leaned back in chair over by the starboard railing, the back of the chair against the outside wall of his cabin, and his feet propped up against the railing. He was softly snoring, and his hat was pulled down over his face.

Bill pulled up a chair to sit with William, who had been joined by Elizabeth at the table usually used for friendly gambling when the ship was at sea. She had slept for a short while, and then woke to hear the voices out on deck, enjoying the Caribbean night. They settled in to enjoy the warm breezes as they washed over Tortuga Bay... Bill gazed out over Tortuga City before them, and contentedly lit his pipe. William looked over at his father, and smiled. "Did you have a chance to properly meet your new grandson?" he asked, not just a bit proud, his face shining with fatherly pride.

"Aye, son, that I did. I got to hold him for quite a while once we got back... you were helping Jack to inspect th' Pearl t' make sure all was right in your absence. Baby Will is quite th' little fellow... he has th' makin's of a true sailor. Jack says tha' he'll be at th' helm in no time... learnin' t' sail from th' two o' you." Bill nodded toward his son, then at the oblivious captain, who was cradling a bottle of rum in his limp hands.

William looked over at Jack, thoughtfully for a moment, then turned to his father with questioning in his eyes. "Father," he began, "... Jack said something just a while ago that bothers me a little... you know how he can get since the Locker, and he says many things that I simply let go, but this time..."

Bill looked over a lazy cloud of tobacco smoke, as his blue eyes assessed his son's. "What is it, Will?"

"Jack said that if anything were to happen to him, he has no heir, and that he bequethed his title of Pirate Lord of the Caribbean... and the captaincy of the Black Pearl... to our son. I thought it was a bit odd, even for him..."

Elizabeth turned around in mid-yawn and stared at William, "He did what? If anything were to happen... he said what?" She looked at him incredulously, and then stared over at the slumbering captain several feet away, who was now snoring into his tricorn, as it had slipped down further.

Bill took another puff from his pipe, and thought long and hard. "You both know a great deal about Jack, thanks t' Calypso's grace in letting you see into 'is heart..." he started.

Elizabeth looked at William, remembering when Jack was deathly ill, and they had just learned of being family. Bill continued, '"I am assumin' that there were a lot of things that ye _didn't_ find out about 'im..."

"I was able to find out mostly what makes him 'him', I suppose," William answered, truthfully, "... but I know that there is much more... Jack is not a simple man..."

Elizabeth interrupted, "Papa Bill..." she started awkwardly, as Bill smiled at her term of endearment for him, "...Jack has really taken to Little Will, and I have been wondering if it is because he has no one else... I can tell that he even has wanted to hold the baby a time or two, but does not seem to be very confident about it... " she hesitated, then started in, again, "... has Jack always been this alone, in this way?" she asked, quietly.

Bill looked over at the captain, then leaned forward upon his elbows. "Just what did Scarlett tell you about him? Did she tell you how she and Jack met?"

"Yes," Elizabeth answered, "She said that she found him under a dock, here. She thought that he was about 14 at the time, and she was older... I don't remember how old she said that she was. She told me that he was sick with pneumonia, and had been left behind by the ship he was working upon..."

"Aye, daughter-in-law, but that was only a part o' th' story... let me tell ye th' rest," Bill sighed, pouring another mug of rum for himself and William, and a half mug, watered down, for Elizabeth. He made certain that Jack was quite asleep, then continued.

"I had just returned to Tortuga from England t' see Will, here, an' his mother... my wife, Mary. I was looking t' join a crew an' needed a place t' stay for th' night, so I was walkin' t' th' Faithful Bride, when Scarlett came runnin' down the street, out o' breath from tryin' t' catch up wi' me. She had found someone tha' she thought was a friend o' mine, as he was very sick, an' had been askin' fer 'William Turner' in his delirium. She had left 'im down under th' dock, as she couldn't lift 'im, an' he was too weak t' walk. She had seen me disembark from th' ship that I had been workin' on, an' she followed me.'

'Sure enough, it was Jack Sparrow. I had not seen th' young whelp since I had left three months before, an' he was in a bad way. He was fevered an' talkin' outta his head, mostly in Irish Gaelic, an' was in a tremendous amount o' pain. I was able t' carry 'im back t' a room above th' Bride, an' me an' Scarlett tried t' take care o' th' lad for a few days...''

William and Elizabeth leaned in closer so that Bill could talk barely above a whisper. It was evident in his eyes that this story pained him to tell, and that it was yet another important thing to know about their cousin. Bill took another draw of his pipe, and continued.

"Now, mind ye one thing, both o' ye. Jack has always been alone in th' world, as me own half-brother, Jonathan Teague, has never taken real responsibility for Jack only until recently, an' that's only because Jack proved t' him what kind of man he truly is... up until then, Jack has had no one but us, an' even th' two o' you didn't really know how he felt about ye..." William and Elizabeth looked at each other, sadly. This was true... Jack had hidden his feelings from them.. his feelings of affection for the two young ones whose spirit he had helped to unleash.

"...ye have t' remember tha' Jack has allowed himself to truly love no one.. he is afraid o' losin' 'is freedom. He is in love wi' freedom, an' if he were t' allow 'imself t' fall for anyone, it would take freedom away, like it has been so many times. His life has been a rough one, an' he will not let shackles contain 'im, whether they be ones of iron or ones of th' heart..." Bill said, and then he chuckled, "... that is, until the Turners came along..."

Bill took a deep breath, and continued, "I think tha' I know what you, Missy, were tryin' t' say, an' bein' th' man tha' I am, I will be blunt with ye. Jack pretty much only consorts wi' women like your new friends. If I were wonderin' if ye were tryin' t' delicately ask if there was a chance tha' Jack has been close t' ever bein' a father, 'imself, would I be right?"

William stared at his wife, as Elizabeth blushed deeply. She had never really thought about it until she had become with child, and watching their cousin's reactions to the changes upon his ship. Since the baby had been born, she and William had seen a side of Jack that they had not expected... a delightful side of someone who was already so dear to them... someone who was welcoming their newborn with thoughtful gifts, and a different look in his brown eyes than they had ever seen before when he looked at their child.

The Turners all jumped a bit when they heard Jack snort a little, and then settle back down into slumber.

Bill sighed a little, and said, "...the ladies that Jack visits most times see a hundred more just like him, every week. Many of them cannot bear children because of what they have been exposed to, or have done unhealthy things t' themselves because of the result o' their occupation..." he said, sadly, "... an' those who do bear children most times never know who th' father of their baby is...ask Mr. Ragetti..." William and Elizabeth both knew that Mr. Ragetti was the son of a prostitute... his mother had been Mr. Pintel's only sister, and Rags had been taken in by his uncle when his mother died. Mr. Ragetti had known no other father figure. Bill thought that he would not say what happened to some of the children who were not wanted...

"... if Jack had ever been a father, no one would have ever known it... he is one of _many_ customers that th' ladies o' th' evenin' entertain, as it were..." Bill continued. He took one more long look at the sleeping captain... a look of affection and friendship for this man that he had known ever since the lad was a young cabin boy, and who he had just recently found out was his half-nephew, all along, "... an' even if he gets t' know a woman that is not a 'professional', it might be somewhat unlikely, at any rate, that Jack would be a father, anyway... not _impossible_, mind both o' ye, but there is room for doubt..."

William and Elizabeth stared at him, as he sighed and said, "Ye see... Jack wasn't cast off of his ship because he had pneumonia... he was almost dead o' one disease that could wipe out th' crew aboard a ship a' sea... he had scarlet fever, an' a very painful case o' th' mumps... he damn near went t' th' Other Side, then... an' because o' th' nature of the mumps tha' he was stricken with, especially as a teenager, I would be quite surprised if he could father a child. I know... I took care of 'im."

Bill relit his pipe, and said, simply, "It was _never_ discussed between Jack an' meself... nor will any of _us_ discuss this, again. He'd be embarrassed, an' not happy wi' me for tellin' ye... like I said, not impossible, but ye both know what th' mumps can do t' a young man... an' combined wi' scarlet fever...I'm just glad that he didn't die..."

He added, softly, looking back over the years before the mutiny led by Barbossa, "Jack was a small lad, as much as he tried t' be a tough one, an' a braver one ye'll never find... he had scarlet fever, mumps, malaria, measles over th' years, an' pneumonia more times than I can count.'

'Ye'd never know it, now... he's strong, now, for all o' his gangliness... he won't admit ever bein' sickly as a boy...but it sometimes it's in th' back o' his mind, I'm sure, an' perhaps that's why he said what 'e did about leavin' th' Pearl an' his title t' Little Will... deep down, he knows tha' th' littlest one asleep in that cabin might more 'n' likely be th' closest thing to an heir Jack will ever have... it's plain tha' he's fond o' your boy.. his blood kin..."

Elizabeth's hand covered her mouth, and William stared over at his cousin. It was a certainty that all of these things were things that they would have never heard from Jack in a thousand years... just like all of the other things that they knew, and would never, ever tell him that they were privy to. Just in knowing these things, the embarrassment of it all would break his heart. Was it any wonder that he was so proud that Little William, indeed, had inherited his hands ...it was because Jack, himself, might possibly be the final leaf on his own branch of their family tree.

William and Elizabeth at Jack, then deeply into each others eyes. "Jack will never know that we discussed this, Father," William whispered, as Elizabeth added, "... and he has no reason for embarassment...he should be proud that he has survived, and that he has us... as much as he tries to hide things, there is no need for it... but he can't help it..."

Just then, Little Will's cry could be heard from the open door of the cabin. As Elizabeth got up to go to him, her mind still mulling over what they had just been told, Jack stirred mid-snore, knocked his hat to the deck, then opened his eyes wide, in alarm, and said, "Little Will's cryin'!"

As William and Bill watched, the captain put his hat back upon his dark head, then hurried, hands raised and swaying a bit, over to the cabin door, only to smile lopsidedly, seeing that the wee one was alright and safe in his mother's arms...

He took a swig from the now nearly empty bottle of rum in his hand, then turned to William and Bill...who were smiling at him in amusement. He frowned at them, looked around to see if they might be looking at someone else, then turned to them and wondered what was so funny...

"William," Jack said, suddenly, with a soft hiccup, "...I feel a resolute need t' be findin' me sword, savvy?" In Jack's slightly drunken state, William thought that perhaps his help might be required, as the broken sword had proven to still be a dangerous thing, and in the dark, he did not wish for his cousin to end up losing some of his slender, artistic fingers.

"Aye, Jack," William nodded. The handsome young first mate got up from his chair, and looked knowingly at his father for a moment, as Elizabeth came out with Little Will in her arms. As she proudly laid the curly haired child in his grandfather's arms, they both watched as William and Jack, arms about each other's shoulders, looking from the back like two mischievious little boys with a mischievious mission in mind, set out to retrieve the broken sword from it's hiding place...


	14. Chapter 14

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The blacksmith's shop had been abandoned for some time... it was full of cobwebs, and the dust was thick upon the anvils and the tools that had been left behind. It was amazingly intact, as far as blacksmith shops went, and the little group of visitors looked all about to see if there were materials at hand.

William smiled a bit as he hefted the tools of his former trade in his strong, tanned hands. He turned and said to the rest, "If we can find some firewood that is suitable to get some good hot coals, I will look to make sure that nothing is living up there in the flue."

Jack had already begun to investigate the flue, peering up into the darkness with squinted eyes, seeing daylight up above, and hoping that there were no spiders to stare back at him...he hated spiders. He wrinkled up his nose, shuddered, and said, "Ick." He turned to William. "If anything is livin' up there, they will soon think tha' they are in a smokehouse, not a smiffy," he observed, holding the blanket wrapped object of their attention upon this day close to himself.

As Bill and Gibbs set out to look in back of the shop for firewood, Elizabeth spread a blanket out over a small bench and held her wiggling son in her arms. She did not care to set him down among the cobwebs, and instead settled him into her lap to watch the proceedings. Little Will was a goodnatured baby, and he seemed to be content to lay in his mother's arms. The shop was built much differently than the smithy in Port Royal, she observed. It was smaller by half, and there was no wheel to be pulled about by a little donkey to turn the mechanism that fanned the coals to keep them hot... this smithy was much more primitive, with a large hand bellows to the side of the forge, meant to be pumped by hand to fan the coals.

William was testing the condition of the bellows' leather as he poked about the inside of the forge with an iron poker, hoping that nothing was living in there, either. Elizabeth admired the sight of her husband, a sight that never failed to make her heart nearly burst with love... incredibly handsome, broad shouldered and tall, strong face under a faded blue bandana, the tails of which were trailing down his back with his long, curly brown hair... the bandana trailed down the back exactly like Jack's did. He had one single braid on the left side of his face, tied off with a bit of royal blue ribbon from Singapore... this single long braid held deep meaning for him, as it was tied off with a strand of Elizabeth's Chinese ribbon that kept their hearts bound symbolically when they were seperated by the curse of the Dutchman.

Turning her eyes to the slight figure standing to William's side, Elizabeth watched Jack with a bit of concern... his eyes were distant, and he was still holding the bundle against him, and it was evident that, in all of the activity going on about him, he was lost in thought as his listless eyes seemed to stare at the tiny bits of dust that blew about in the sunshine that was streaming in from the front door...

۞

_As they entered Jack's cabin to find the broken sword, the captain was prattling on about finding proper places to keep things so that they might be found in good order, while he was delicately opening a cabinet wherein he kept clean clothing, a spare pair of boots, a number of his rolled sea charts and assorted candles in various states of burned and unburned condition. He dug around in a basket that was occupying the back corner of the cabinet, while William simply stood back and watched him, his arms folded across his scarred chest expectantly._

_"Ye know, lad, I am a mite more organized than ye might expect tha' I am..." Jack started._

_"I know, Jack," was William's patient reply. Jack turned around and looked at him, as if this surprised him,"Ye do?"_

_"Aye, Jack, I know that you keep things in pretty good order," William said, "I have never known you to not be able to put your hands on an object directly, no matter what it was... except for the time that we lost the sextant, and that was only because it had slid off of the table and under your bunk."_

_"I forgot about tha' one..." came the husky, muffled voice from the inside of the cabinet, as Jack seemed to disappear more and more within its depths. Finally, he emerged, his bandana pulled nearly off of his head after becoming caught upon a nail that the captain had forgotten was there. He slowly straightened up, and became very quiet as he turned to face William. In his hands, wrapped in a blanket so as not to be viewed, was the unmistakable shape of a hilt... the hilt and broken blade of Jack's trusty sword... the one that had stabbed the heart of Davy Jones... "Here it is..."_

_Jack's dark eyes turned up to William's, as the young man looked down at the bundle that was in the captain's hands. Jack did not move for a moment, then he slowly offered the bundle up to William._

_Neither of them moved. It was a strange feeling, this was. Both of them had been so affected by the final action of this tool of battle... both of them, along with all of their loved ones. It was because of Jack's unselfish action to save William's life that Bootstrap Bill Turner was released from his oath... that the Flying Dutchman was reborn and with her new captain at the wheel, she helped the mighty Black Pearl to vanquish Cutler Beckett and sink him and his tyranny to the depths..._

_But it was also this sword that seperated William from his bride, his love... it bound him to a long servitude to the ghost ship that was the ferrier of souls... an action that Jack Sparrow still felt guilt for, even though they had freed William from his captaincy and he and Elizabeth were reunited. Jack had not laid eyes upon the sword since he and the Turners had parted ways after World's End... and it still laid hidden in the cabinet during the entire time since they had reunited, the Turners had joined the crew of the Pearl and baby Will had been concieved and born. This sword was not heavy in physical weight, but in symbolic weight it was very heavy, indeed._

_William simply took the bundle, and opened it. It still looked the same... it felt the same... but he did not...William was not certain what it was that he was feeling. He took the hilt up into his hand, as Jack's sad eyes looked on... the captain did not recall that the sword had looked so worn and beaten before. It was a good sword, but like himself, it had taken its licks..._

_William hefted the hilt in his hand, turning it over and saying nothing. He turned it down in his hand... like as if to stab. Jack studied him in silence. _

_Finally, William looked up and smiled..."It shall be a fine sword once again, Jack. It's a clean break. I should thank Jones for that one. It won't take long to repair." William spun the sword upright in his hand expertly, and mused, "I shall make certain that it is a fine sword again... perfectly balanced... the blade has a clean break," and as he looked back up at the captain he said, "... and I want you to remember that we have made a clean break, also, mate... from those dark times..."_

_Jack's dark eyes looked into William's smiling ones. His own face began to grin, and he said, "Aye, whelp, a clean break. Maybe ye can polish th' ol' sword up a bit, too, eh?"...just as the Turners made him feel a bit polished up himself, these days..._

۞

"Jack, we need to get a fire started in order to get the coals hot and ready to forge..." William said, shaking Jack from his thoughtful state. They had merely left Jack alone to drift off, as they all had bustled around him... they were used to this from him, now and then, and most times they let him be for awhile.

"Oh!" came the reply from the captain, who suddenly looked all around at his surroundings, then grinned, "Ahhh... I came prepared!" Elizabeth smiled slightly as she watched them, rocking the cooing baby Will in her arms. Jack always had a flint kit upon his person, it seemed... he had learned through the years that starting a fire in some form or another was always advantageous, whether to keep warm while marooned upon a rumrunner's island or to create a great deal of merry mayhem while sacking Nassau port without firing a single shot. As she watched him triumphantly produce the flint kit from his pockets, she thought to herself how, even though he was reckless and wild and full of himself, at times, it was because _he_ was full of life... life that was precious to him. He might be annoying, but she loved her husband's cousin, this heartbreakingly handsome and most famous of pirates, with all of her heart.

Joshamee and Bill had found plenty of dry firewood still stacked in a cellar behind the smithy, and the bellows still seemed to be in good condition, although the leather was stiff with disuse. William and Jack set about looking for suitable materials with which to fashion a new blade, and William was genuinely pleased to find the rudimentary start of blades in a back storeroom, much to his surprise.

"Ye have t' remember, William..." Jack said, as he removed his coat and hat, and removed his baldric with its scabbard, which was still holding tightly to the sword that had stuck itself fast to its embrace.."Ye aren't in Port Royal any longer... this is Tortuga, an' th' most loyal customers of an esteemed establishment such as this one be pirates, not horses."

"I suppose that we had better try to get this sword out of the scabbard," William looked down at the baldric which Jack had laid down upon the old table that was in the middle of the room. He pulled upon the hilt... it was stuck tight. He pulled harder, and it was evident that it was not going to budge anytime soon. Jack looked at him suspiciously and said, "Ye aren't gonna damage me scabbard...we're old friends..."

"No..." William still struggled with the sword, then he offered one end to Jack, and between the two of them, they tugged and grunted, trying to loosen the sword from the scabbard. Elizabeth, Joshamee and Bill looked on, and finally the sword gave way... and sent Jack tumbling backwards with a shout of "OI!" He was able to stay upon his feet, but almost fell over backward over an anvil. William laughed as he finally was able to put the sword aside and take a look at the scabbard, in order to try to measure, with his eyes, how to contour the blade to fit within.

As the fire was lit and the embers began to glow, all of them witnessed the wonder of an artist at work... work that William no longer chose to pursue, but a craft that was engrained in his own chiseled muscles and strong hands... he was an artisan, making a thing of beauty from an instrument of death...

As Jack shed his shirt and began to pump the bellows in order to maintain the glowing coals, William also shed his shirt, and began to hammer away steadily at what was now red hot steel, both of them sweating in order to mend that which would always be at the side of the mad pirate captain who, amazingly, was responsible for every person in that room to be in the presence of the others...

۞

"Look at this, all o' ye!" Jack brandished his weapon for all to see. Bill and Joshamee had gone to a tavern and brought back a loaf of bread and some cheese for all of them (as well as a small handful of peanuts and a sliced lime at the request of their daft captain) during the heat of mid-day, and they had all spread another blanket that they had found in the smithy in the shade of a palm tree in the back. Joshamee had taken Little Will outside with them, and he and Bill had relaxed in the shade, spinning more yarns, while watching the baby nap in the coolness of the spreading branches above them. There was a well with fresh water in back, as well, and they had taken buckets inside to fill a cooling trough for the forge... the water was sweet and cool to drink, and they all took advantage of this, as fresh well water was very much a luxury for sailors and pirates alike.

Jack, William and Elizabeth all came out of the smithy into the afternoon shade, Jack leading the way, proud as a peacock, pointing to the chuckling Bill and Gibbs with his new prize. Bill had one hand protectively and gently rubbing little Will's back as he slept, brown curls blowing in the breeze. Jack and William were both still shirtless, tanned and gleaming with perspiration, mopping their brows with bandana tails that had been soaked in cool water from the trough, inside.

Elizabeth's eyes grew large, as she had to admit to herself that both of them were very attractive, indeed! She cleared her throat a bit and giggled to herself, for having such thoughts, then openly smiled... if anyone noticed, she thought, as her eyes took in the pair before her, just let them wonder what she was thinking. Her eyes turned to her husband, who had taken a glance at her, and noticed her admiring gaze watching them... he chuckled, and Elizabeth blushed deeply and giggled, again.

William placed an arm around Elizabeth's shoulders, and hers curled around his waist, as Jack knelt down upon one knee for his friends to take a closer look at this sword, which he was now so very enraptured with. The captain's golden grin was contagious as he tossed his head back proudly. Turning to William, beads jingling, Jack proclaimed, "Come on, William, step up an' let me brag on ye! Oh look, Wee Willie is wakin' up..."

"Just in time!" Elizabeth smiled, as she moved to gatherher little one into her arms, "He needs to see this!"

Indeed, at the sound of the familiar voices of his family, Little Will stirred and opened his soft brown eyes, gurgling happily for a moment, and bobbling his little head in an effort to take in his surroundings. As William looked on with a bit of a boyish smile, they all watched in amusement, as the captain looked directly into the infant's eyes and began to speak...

_To be continued..._


	15. Chapter 15

۞

"Look, Little Will," Jack said softly, holding the sword out before the tiny babe, nestled in his mother's arms. Elizabeth had settled down upon the trunk of a fallen tree, and Jack knelt down upon his knees before them, to talk to the child in a way as if Little Will were an adult. The captain leaned forward, his eyes intense and sparkling with excitement, as one slender hand caressed the repaired blade while the hilt was gripped in the other. All of those who were present turned their heads to listen to the captain as he showed his new prize to the baby...

"... your father fixed it. Is it not a thing o' beauty, lad? It _is_ perfectly balanced, more perfectly than th' old blade ever was. Th' hilt always fit me hand t' perfection, which is a wonder, as me hands are a bit lean," he paused and said, in a rather haughty tone, "... they are strong, but lean...after all, I am Cousin Captain Jack Sparrow, but I digress..."

Jack turned to sword about so that the afternoon sun shone upon the shining finish of the strong steel, "..if ye were bigger I would let ye heft this... see how lovely th' shine is? Your father is a true craftsman, boy, an' it is a pity tha' we can't have a forge aboard th' Pearl..."

Elizabeth's eyes studied Jack's dark face... he was completely focused upon talking to the baby before him, as if there was no one else in the world around them. Strangely, it was if the wee babe were listening, as his tiny pink hands waved about, and his little eyes struggled to focus upon the captain's face. Jack's natural swaying motion and his husky, soft voice were mesmerizing to the child...

"... your papa was right.. it was a clean break, see?... ye can't even tell where it was... an' look how pretty it is. All shiny an' polished, hardly a nick in 'er!" The captain's eyes turned down to the sword in his hand, staring at it with almost a look of love, as he murmered, "... a treasure, it is... from a plain ol' everyday sword turned magically into one o' yer papa's works of art..." Jack held the shining blade up, out of the babe's reach but hoping that the child's eyes could behold that what Jack was holding in such high esteem, "... I always wanted one o' your papa's swords..."

William frowned a bit, as he heard these words... the sword was really just as plain as it always was, save for etching the initials "J. S." in the blade, but Jack thought it rivaled even the ceremonial sword that had been forged for James Norrington... the captain was marveling, simply because he had a sword in his hands that William had the capability to repair, balance perfectly to Jack's height and weight, and polish to a suitable shine. It was not perfect, to William's usual standards, but Jack thought it was wondrous. Amazing, William mused, that something as simple as this would please the captain so much... but perhaps Jack's ability to render such intricate carvings of Kraken tooth and pieces of fine wood were just as mundane to Jack, yet amazing and precious to William and his family.

Jack continued his conversation with the babe, as he repeated, "... I always wanted one o' your papa's swords..." He kept admiring the highly polished blade, then looked back up at Little Will and grinned, "... I never made it back t' Port Royal, or I woulda broke int' th' smiffy an' stolen one..." he glanced up at a laughing Elizabeth, and winked. Everyone chuckled at Jack's trademark boldness, as William rolled his eyes.

Jack resettled on his knees for a moment, then, with one hand waving about airily, he continued, his head bobbing from side to side as he talked, "Someday, your mama an' your papa an' I will teach you how t' use a fine weapon such as this, savvy?... but until then, it will be up t' us t' protect ye..." he paused, and his face clouded, "...every child should be protected... Remember, lad, I want ye t' keep a hold on your childhood..." Jack's eyes lost their sparkle for a fleeting moment, "...if I have t' draw this sword someday t' make sure that ye do, I swear tha' I will do so." He raised a slender finger to punctuate his words, "...That's a promise. Your father has always kept his promises... an' I _try_ to..."

Jack's eyes rekindled their flame within, and the smile returned to his face, as he finally said, "... anyways, until ye're old enough t' really hold onto a blade as fine as this one, I shall make ye a little wooden sword, savvy? Wif it's own little scabbard, me fine littlest pirate, an' we shall practice, 'three hours a day'..." his dancing eyes flickered toward a proud William, whose sword was unsheathed, ready for some practice, to make certain that the new Turner blade was, indeed, perfectly balanced...

Jack turned once again, to Little William, who was amazingly quiet, his hands outstretched, his long fingers straight and fine boned. "Now, lad, pay attention... this is how it's done..."

He got to his feet, and William Turner the Second and Captain Jack Sparrow faced each other, grinning. Elizabeth looked on in wonder, as they began...circling each other, warily, booted feet stepping slowly as if in time to music...

"_You're the one they're hunting... the pirate_..." William began...

Smiling and with his head tossed back, Jack countered, in the words spoken so long ago, "..._You seem somewhat familiar... have I threatened you before?"_

William kept circling, his shoulder muscles rippling, his smile growing wider, _"...I make a point of avoiding familiarity with pirates..."_

And as a delighted Bill Turner, Joshamee Gibbs, Elizabeth Turner and baby Will looked on, William and Jack reenacted the moment that they met, the moment in a blacksmith's shop in Jamaica so long ago that had changed everything in their world, forever... at least William knew, this time, that Jack never followed the rules of engagement... rules that William also no longer followed.

۞

As Bill watched the two vital young men practice and test each other and test the sword that his son had amazingly repaired, and had added his own artistic touches to, his mind wandered for a short time. He took in the scene before him... his tall, strong son, who had withstood very hard times and a sad adolescence after Bill, himself, has disappeared into the briny deep, tied to a cannon, undead and yet not living. His son, who had become a fine, good man, a good pirate, a man of strength and loyalty, who had toiled long and hard to to right the wrongs of Davy Jones, and who had joined the crew and the captain of the Black Pearl, to strengthen the feeling of kinship and home that he had felt nowhere else.

He looked at his stunningly beautiful daughter-in-law, who was watching, with fascination, the story that was being reenacted before her... something that had been reminisced about but was now playing out before her and her son, a pivotal moment in all of their lives when their fates became forever entwined... his daughter-in-law, the daughter of an aristocrat, who had fought and scratched and struggled through such adversity for everything that she now had... a secure home, a life upon the sea with those that she loved unfailingly...

He looked over at a grinning Joshamee Gibbs... a good man who loved his captain like a son, and who also cared about and respected Bill's son, as if William were also his own... a man who had been given many chances at redemption for the failings in his life, and who now felt that he had a family of his own again, with the birth of the little one who reminded him so much of his own lost baby boy...

And Bill's eyes finally rested upon Jack Sparrow... the cocky, brash, eccentric captain of the Black Pearl, who had carved out a legend for himself as a clever and wild pirate, but who Bill remembered as a scrawny, frail boy who tried so desperately to be a man much too early in life, who looked upon him as a father figure, and who Bill had pulled out of danger so many times, whether he was dragging him out of tavern brawls by his collar, or rocking him in his own strong arms while the boy wept with pain and sickness because the lad had no one else to care about him...

Bootstrap Bill Turner watched the scene before him, puffing upon his pipe, and for the first time in years, felt contentment wash over him like the very waves he felt each time the Dutchman submerged... contentment that this close-knit group assembled before him was a strong family... a family tied together by the beautiful wee baby, hiccuping in his mother's lap... watching a part of his family's history played out before him...Bill would soon have to return to his service aboard the Flying Dutchman, and he wanted to savor everything... and he anticipated with a smile what was going to take place once they had finished their work here at the little abandoned blacksmith shop...

_To be continued..._


	16. Chapter 16

۞

Shore leave was ending; three days had passed and the crew began to straggle back aboard the Black Pearl after their wild merrymaking... the voyage back from retreiving Elizabeth after the release of William's curse had taken nearly a year, since they had taken extra time in several ports of call to see the sights, and their progress had slowed a bit during the time that the mizzen mast had collapsed during the trip, the fallen mizzen mast that had nearly killed Jack while they sailed through the Indian Ocean. They had all learned to accept so much about each other since the day that Cutler Beckett had so rudely ruined the Turners' planned wedding in Port Royal... in a time that seemed like a century ago... and now Little Will had been born, a true ray of sunshine in lives that had been thought ruined or ended at one time.

Jack Sparrow was sitting at the large mahogany table in his cabin, his beloved charts spread out before him, carefully measuring and charting the path that the Pearl was to take through the Caribbean, his compass laying upon the table, closed, with its leather strap curled around it in almost a perfect circle. The captain looked over at the baldric laying upon the table's other end, with his treasured sword sheathed in it's beaten up leather scabbard. He smiled with pleasure, and got up out of his chair to admire it.

His kohl lined eyes closed halfway as he tilted his head to one side... pulling the sword from the scabbard with a pleasant and intoxicating _zhing!_, he sighed with happiness as he put the sword back into the scabbard with a flick of his hand. He did not know that he was being watched from the doorway by his grinning first mate.

Jack jumped with a start, as William said, "You had better be careful, Jack. You are not accustomed to a sword so sharp, or that comes from the scabbard so easily! I should hate to have to see you hurt yourself..."

"Ah, well, William, we have had Izzy stitch me head up, an' she helped t' pull one o' me teeth, once... so I expect tha' she can reattach fingers, savvy?" Jack smiled, as he walked over to William, pulling the sword from the scabbard once again so that the whelp could admire his handiwork for only the hundredth time. William had the sword in his hands, as Elizabeth called out to them from outside.

"... Jack... Will..." came Elizabeth's voice from the main deck, "Can you come out here for a moment, please?" was the request, above the sounds of cargo and barrels of supplies being rolled about upon the deck and lowered into the hold below.

"... Wot does Izzy want, I wonder?" Jack muttered to himself, turning toward the door. He swayed to a stop for a moment, hands raised in the air, as William nearly ran into the back of him... Jack looked at one shoulder for a moment, as if to listen to a voice, then muttered even more, "... yer crazy, mate..."

William wondered, for a moment, what Jack had heard from his little invisible friend who supposedly hid among his dark dreadlocks, then decided not to ask. William knew exactly what Elizabeth wanted, and he smiled mysteriously as Jack looked back at him and said, "Let's go see wot Izzy needs..."

As the both made their way out to the main deck, Jack frowned slightly to see all of the work had come to a halt, as the crewmembers were gathering about the table that was made of several planks fastened together and laid on top of a barrel. Elizabeth was beckoning everyone to hear what was about to be said, as Bootstrap Bill Turner went into the small cabin that was the young couple's home. William went to Elizabeth's side, as he laid the newly repaired sword upon the table. Jack frowned.

"Why did ye bring me sword out? It needs t' be in..." Jack started, as he reached out to take the sword back to his cabin protectively. William reached out and put his hand upon the sword, and said, "We need to say something, Jack..."

The captain looked at William in puzzlement... "Oi! _My _sword!" he said, almost plaintively.

Just then, Bill came out of the Turners' cabin, with two small objects in his large hands. By this time, Jack was completely mystified, as a murmer rose among the crewmen, who were equally mystified as to what was taking place. Jack's mustache quirked nervously, as Elizabeth smilingly went to the cabin, herself, and came back out with Little Will, who was yawning and hiccuping.

Jack grinned at him... the lad hiccuped with great talent, he decided to himself. Perhaps that was passed down from the Teagues, too, he thought, smugly.

Elizabeth had pulled her hair back into her hand carved comb, and she was wearing a cotton dress that William had bought for her during one of the stops upon the west coast of Africa prior to their last crossing... a dress that she could not wear for long due to her advancing pregnancy. With the smile upon her face on this sunny morning, she was radiant.

William looked at the crew that were gathered, as Bill took his place next to his family, and beckoned Joshamee Gibbs forward, "Josh, I would like for you to take a place next to Captain Sparrow, please..."

"Captain? Since when do _you_ call me 'Captain', William?" Jack was becoming a bit more nervous... he was not sure what was going on, and he was sincerely hoping with all of his black heart that it whatever it was, the word "mutiny" would not be involved... his eyes looked from Bill, to William, to Elizabeth, to Little Will, and back again, as they all smiled at him and an equally puzzled Joshamee Gibbs. Things seemed to be a bit too congenial for a mutiny, Jack thought to himself. The captain and Gibbs both glanced at each other, still not without a bit of trepidation. "Do ye think I should go an' get me hat?" Jack whispered to Gibbs, who was not certain, so he did not answer.

William cleared his throat and addressed the group gathered about him, as Bill stood by, "Gentlemen, we wished to gather all of you upon this fine morning to conduct a little bit of a ceremony, since my father is about to leave the Pearl to rejoin Captain Norrington upon the Flying Dutchman."

Everyone nodded to Bill, and he acknowledged them with a smile; Jack felt a little twinge of sadness to think that his old friend... his half-uncle... was leaving them.

"Just as Captain Sparrow and my father presented my bride, Elizabeth Swann Turner, and myselfwith our wedding rings before we left the China Sea, Elizabeth and I wanted to do something that means a great deal to us... to our son... not only did he present us with rings," William turned and looked at Jack, running a hand over the large scar upon his chest, and said, softly, "...the night before that, Captain Sparrow presented us with our very lives together, by helping to restore my very heart..." Jack gazed back at the young man, then over at his loyal crew, his head tilted back and his hands resting lightly upon the tabletop... his thoughts went back briefly to that night... a flash of green...

William nodded to his father, who laid out upon the table, next to Jack's sword, two of the beautiful gifts that the captain had taken such pains to create... his heartfelt gift to Little Will of the creamy white Kraken tooth whale... etched with the images of the ships that had touched all of their lives. Alongside it was the rich and highly polished whale carved of rare teakwood... the gift that Jack had made for his newfound cousin William, upon learning that the whale made so long ago had been treasured by a young boy, a boy who had lost his parents and the life that he knew back in England... a teakwood whale that went to the depths upon the day that William was plucked from the sea by the Dauntless. Jack and Gibbs grew increasingly somber, knowing that something important to the Turners was taking place.

William looked at Joshamee, who was momentarily smiling at the sleepy and stretching Little William, and then over at the uncharacteristically quiet Jack, who was standing with his hands even more uncharacteristically still. His dark eyes gazed back into William's, searching. William cleared his throat, again, not accustomed to speaking what was in his heart so openly.

"Not long ago... we were all tested to the limits... our strength was tested. Our resolve was tested. Most of all, our love for each other was tested," As William said this, Jack closed his eyes, suddenly... _No... not now... Kraken... Locker... oh, God... William... no...no...stab the heart, William...I'm hallucinating...no...not now...not real..._ The captain clenched his fists, as Gibbs put a hand upon his shoulder. Jack took a deep breath, and opened his eyes, again. He had beaten it all back deep within himself without as much trouble this time... he smiled, a little. "Oh, good!" he muttered to himself. William, Bill and Elizabeth watched him closely, then William continued.

William picked up the lovely pieces of art that the captain had created, as Elizabeth removed the comb from her hair, "These were created by the hands of Captain Sparrow, upon learning that our son was to be born," William said, quietly. The crew murmered low as they looked upon the gifts... they had been aware that the captain could carve, but were surprised at the intricacy of the designs... they were even more shocked when William added, "... except for this little teakwood whale, the other gifts are carved from a tooth of the Kraken..." A louder murmer broke out.

Elizabeth finally spoke, softly, also to show the crew another piece of art that held great meaning..."... as you can all see, the sword laying here next to these lovely gifts is Captain Sparrow's sword... the sword that lost it's blade to the claw of Davy Jones during the Battle of the Maelstrom... the sword that was reborn from the hands of a former blacksmith who was exiled by the action of that broken sword as it stabbed the heart of the monster that ruined all of our lives..." she broke off for a moment, her eyes and voice filled with sadness, as Bill comfortingly put a hand upon her shoulder, as Jack felt guilt..his eyes closed, again... _it was my fault that Jones had nearly killed all of them... but I tried to redeem myself... I tried... did I succeed?...did I?... can someone please tell me?..._

_To be continued..._


	17. Chapter 17

_**Author's note:** Here it is, mates, the final chapter of "The Ties That Bind". Thank you for the wonderful reviews!!! Pirate Cat tips her tricorn and raises her mug of rum. "Fair winds in yer sails, mates!'_

۞

Jack came back to reality with yet another soft nudge from Gibbs. As William gently stroked his wife's hair, Elizabeth swallowed hard, hugged her baby to her, and looked at Jack, "... Jones tried to ruin all of our lives, and wrenched one away from us...but we would not _let_ that one stay away from us...nor would we let anyone _break_ any of us in any way..." Jack's eyes turned away for a fleeting moment.

Elizabeth noticed, but continued, "... in putting our hands upon these things which are a part of those tried to conquer us, we are the conquerors..." Jack gazed back at all of them, seeing in his straying mind the brave young woman who had urged the Brethren forward to be victorious against the enemy... the enemy that he and William had vanquished, together. His eyes fell to the objects upon the table, and the significance was not lost upon him.

Mr. Cotton, Pintel and Ragetti and Marty crowded forward to examine these pieces with great awe... their captain, Jack Sparrow, had fashioned such objects of love from the very beast that had killed him, and their first mate, William Turner the Second, had repaired the sword that had kept his own life from escaping him forever, but sent him to the ghost ship for what might have been many years, had his friend not stepped in. They were all awed, not only at the beauty of these things... but at the courage that it took for these two men to even lay their hands upon them after what they had been through, because of them.

William slipped an arm around his wife and child, as he said, "We are all here today in spite of all of the adversity. These material things are reminders of what _was_... but not what _will _be... just as Captain Sparrow presented us with our cherished wedding rings, made from the hinge of the Dead Man's Chest, we also wish to present to him... and to Joshamee Gibbs... a gift that is not as tangible.'

'...It is tradition in Elizabeth's family, the Swann family, to give a child a first name and two middle names... it might have been that we should have named our child after both our fathers, or after another person that might be gone that our child will never know... but we chose, instead, to name him after the two men who made it possible for our child to even be born...two men who our son will grow up knowing that they cared about him _and _his parents. "

William and Elizabeth came around the table, to an quiet Joshamee Gibbs. Elizabeth stood directly in front of her old friend... the man who had braced himself against a rocking, tossing ship to bring her baby into the world with his knowledge and strong, steady calmness...

"Mr. Gibbs... you overcame the grief that you still felt over the loss of your own dear wife and baby to come to my aid when our son was about to be born during a raging storm at sea," Elizabeth said, looking up into Gibbs' emotional eyes... eyes that were swiftly beginning to brim with tears, over ruddy cheeks that were beginning to show color. Elizabeth reached over and patted his hand, leaning over to kiss his grizzled cheek..."Thank you, Joshamee, for helping our family. We consider you family..."

The young couple turned to the captain... this odd, eccentric man... the man who they had come to love, and who had proved to them that one should never judge from what one sees upon the surface...

"Captain Jack Sparrow," William looked deeply into Jack's soul, now bared in his brown eyes..."... you are our best friend... you hung on to the Pearl and kept her from foundering, you danced with your dark lady on heavy, wild seas while our son came into the world in that very cabin behind us... keeping alive the Teague tradition of being born aboard a pirate captain's ship." Timbers of the Pearl's hull creaked, as if in approval.

Jack gazed down upon the sleeping baby... he would have had them safely in Tortuga, but had done the best that he could with what was thrown at him... as he had all of his life. William swallowed hard, as his mind was flooded with all that they had been through, together...he looked back up at this man, this pirate, who'd had no real family until now. "Captain Sparrow...I'm _glad_ that you're my cousin...'half-cousin, once removed'..."

William reached out to grasp the captain's hand, and Jack hesitantly reached back... warm smiles were exchanged between them.. words were barely necessary between them ... as they did in a cave on Isla de Muerta so long ago, they could read each other's minds. William placed his other hand over Jack's as they gripped hands, and William said, emotionally, "Thanks, mate... for _everything_...we're all here because you cared, Jack... thank you..." Jack shrugged a little, and found himself swallowing a bit hard. "Anytime, whelp..."

The young couple turned back to the crew, who looked on in respect...William took a deep breath, and finally said, "My wife and I would like to officially announce, since our terrible loss of Governor Swann, that we have selected an honorary grandfather for our son...Mr. Joshamee Joseph Gibbs." Gibbs nodded in gratitude, as the crew nodded and murmered their approval.

"... and we would also like to officially announce that we have another honor to bestow... Elizabeth and I want our son to have a mentor... the same man that mentored me... who showed both my wife and I what a man can do... and what a man can't do. Whether he realizes it or not, he taught us everything that we ever need to know about life... the rest is not important. We want him to look after our son the same way... we have decided that our son must have a godfather... and his godfather shall be his cousin, Captain Jack Sparrow..."

Jack's eyes popped, and his mouth dropped open a bit, his hands flying up to his chest and pointing to himself. "Wot? Godfather? _Me_?" His mouth dropped open even more as the Turners looked at him and smiled widely.

The captain blinked hard at them, and closed his mouth quickly...as Joshamee Gibbs blew his nose into a handkerchief that Elizabeth had kept in her sleeve, just in case it was needed. Jack stared at William, who cleared his throat to indicate that he was not yet finished.

"In honor of my father William Turner, Mr. Gibbs, Captain Sparrow, and myself, and in the Swann tradition of two middle names, may we present to all of you our son, _'William Joshamee Jack Turner'_." William grinned, waved his hand to barrel and several mugs, and cried out, "Drinks all around, gentlemen!!! Help yourselves..." And with that, William turned to his beautiful wife, pulled her close, and bent to kiss her softly, stroking his son's soft brown hair.

As the crew broke out into several loud shouts of "Huzzah!"and opened the barrel of fine Tortugan rum, the Turners turned back to an emotional Joshamee Gibbs, and an now utterly speechless Jack Sparrow, whose mouth had popped open again. As Gibbs once again blew his nose, trying to compose himself, Bill and William clapped him upon the back.

Then they all approached the captain, whose face had now softened and who had a small smile dancing at the corners of his mustache. Elizabeth straightened up, threw back her shoulders and said, trying not to laugh, "As the former captain of the Empress, and as the Pirate King... at least I _think_ I still am...I hereby order you, Captain Jack Sparrow, to extend your arms to receive... your godson."

The captain looked into the bonnie lass' dancing hazel eyes, and then into the intense brown eyes of the young man that he, the captain, had grown to care about so much. He could almost physically feel the warmth that the young couple was feeling toward him, and it was at this time... for the first time... that he felt that he belonged to them as much as he had yearned to, for so long... he finally, truly, had a family...he broke into a huge, impish grin... he wasn't going to doubt it any longer... he finally belonged to someone, whether they deserved _him_ or not...

Elizabeth smiled warmly, as Jack stared down at the beautiful bundle in her arms, this curly haired, perfect cherub that now bore his name. As Bootstrap Bill Turner and Gibbs looked on, and William put an arm across Jack's bony, dreadlocked shoulders, the most legendary pirate captain in the Caribbean... at least in the minds of those who sailed with him... hesitantly and slowly held out his hands... and, just like a few days ago, at feeling the unborn child move against his palm, Jack almost visibly melted as Elizabeth placed little William Joshamee Jack Turner into his nervous arms.

The wee babe opened his sleepy brown eyes for the slightest moment, to see his loved ones all around him, and promptly went back to sleep. William said, "... as his godfather, I will need to have you look after my son during those times when I am away on the Dutchman, Jack...I want you to be his father figure when I'm not here..."

Jack's eyes looked doubtful for a moment, and William looked at him, emotion welling into his handsome face, "Jack... I trust you. You have taught us so much...especially since we rescued you from the Other Side... Just as we trusted you to restore my living heart by bringing the Dead Man's Chest back to the Pearl, we trust you with the very life of our son."

The two cousins looked at each other for a long moment, then they both looked down at the small, content bundle nestled in the captain's arms...

Elizabeth finally stepped forward... she had let her two men have a moment to themselves...and she put a light hand upon Jack's arm as she said, "We _know_ that you can do it, Jack... I will need help when Will is away upon the Dutchman helping James. As Little Will gets older, as his godfather that means that you have permission to discipline and..." she stopped when he saw that Jack drew himself up with indignance.

He held the child close to his thin chest and he finally found his muted tongue. The captain frowned at her darkly, and said, "Izzy! Discipline is for scurvy bilgerat deckhands, _not_ me godson!"

Stifling a laugh, Elizabeth put her hands up in resignation and looked at William, who shrugged and grinned.

And as a golden smile spread across his dark face, Jack smirked, "Bloody hell, just fancy this! I've never even held a baby before...an' I didn't even make 'im cry!" Everyone grinned, as Bill rejoined them all with brimming mugs. Jack had obviously regained his famous power of speech... Bill's sparkling blue eyes danced, as he leaned toward his old friend, his nephew, and said, "Who would of thought it, Jack? I would think that a fierce pirate captain like yerself woulda scared th' bejesus outta the poor laddie!" He reached down and lightly stroked the babe's rosy pink cheek with his finger.

Gibbs drained his mug, and said to Jack, with a smile, "O' course ye didn't make 'im cry! He's courageous! He's William Joshamee Jack Turner o' th' Black Pearl, an he's ours!" and went back to refill his mug with a flourish. "Drink up, men! Drink t' our newest crewman!"

Jack, in the meantime, was savoring this moment... enjoying the innocent, yawning little sprite nestled against his own scarred and tattooed chest, and he muttered, "... An' I was jus' gettin' used t' havin' cousins! Now I have me a godson!"

His face became a bit vexed, as he looked up at the young Turners and said, "How am I supposed t' drink rum an' hold a baby?"

They laughed at his question, and Elizabeth tried to take Little William from him. He pulled away from her with his eyes narrowed, and Elizabeth's eyes widened... she finally let go with a laugh, as the thought was rather absurd. Jack Sparrow wanted no part of holding a baby before, and now he was not willing to give said baby back... to the point that holding said baby and drinking rum simaltaneously was physically beyond his normally swaying and wobbly ability, at this point.

Jack turned to William and looked pitiful... "Rum?" he pouted, asWilliam finally rolled his eyes, shook his head and raised Jack's mug to his lips for him... as the captain slurped clumsily at the mug while holding Little Will firmly in both arms, William said, "Ye worthless scalawag... you had better get the hang of using one hand independent of the other while holding my son... don't expect this all of the time!"

Jack retorted, after a good loud hiccup, "Listen, I just want t' join in drinkin' t' all of us... especially drinkin' t' me!"

As everyone looked on, they all shook their heads at a sight that they thought that they would never see... Captain Jack Sparrow sat down in a chair, leaned it back, propped his feet upon a barrel, held the tiny, sleepy babe close, and started to hum, softly..."Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me...we're devils, an' black sheep...", as the tiny baby curled his fingers around one finger of a rough, tanned, elegant hand that was identical to his own..."... an' really... bad eggs..." He paused; Little Will was sound asleep. Jack smiled with a great deal of godfatherly pride.

"Awww... bloody look a' that, will ye, Pearl?" the captain grinned, looking up at the sails that were being unfurled above his head. Now that he was sitting down, he could delicately put a mug of rum to his own lips without William's grudging help. "Not every pirate captain can say they had a little whelpie born on their ship... an' a godson, at that. Funny ol' world, innit? How long do ye s'pose it'll be 'til we can braid beads into 'is hair? William Joshamee _Jack_ Turner... sure beats th' hell outta 'Weatherby' fer a name, eh, Pearl?"

۞

_Glad to be able to be a part of the crew again, Elizabeth was tired after helping the rest get the ship under way, and was getting ready for bed upon this evening. The Pearl had set sail from Tortuga, and the comforting sound and motion of the restless sea slipping beneath them would certainly lull her to sleep soon. She paused, as she often did, to stretch at the doorway of the cabin, and as she combed her hair, she smiled up at her three men, who were standing up at the nighttime railing of the ship ... one was tall, and strong, with long curly hair blowing almost halfway down his back. His cousin, slender as a reed and swaying gracefully with the dipping motion of the ship, was standing next to him, his hat perched crookedly upon his head... and in her husband's arms was her other little man... her newborn baby son, born of pirate blood upon the most famous and swiftest pirate ship in history. _

_She had no doubt at all that her two most loved men in the universe would soon be teaching her son to tie knots, climb rigging and read sea charts... and they would also tell him stories about pirates, Krakens, Port Royal and Singapore..._

_As she gazed out upon them, she saw the future... she looked up at the twinkling stars above, the very stars that the captain was already explaining to his tiny godson, and she saw infinity... the captain and his first mate had already charted the course to the Spanish Territory of Florida with the captain's famous compass... and they were upon the first leg of the journey to find Aqua de Vida... the legendary Fountain of Youth._

_Secretly, and as daft as it sounded, she truly hoped that they would really find this wondrous treasure of immortality... she smiled to herself, as she affectionately watched the captain talk to his cousins, fluttering his hands skyward, leaning toward the baby and pointing out the stars used for navigating at night, and she saw her husband laugh out loud at his best friend's antics, as he held his child so that he might gaze at the sky with them... as the Pirate King, married to the former captain of the legendary Flying Dutchman, and cousin of the mad, eccentric Pirate Lord of the Caribbean, Elizabeth wanted her life with her beloved and odd pirate family, tied by heartstrings to the wee little Pirate Prince, to truly go on and on..._

_... they had family ties that bind... family ties that would be unbroken, and that would last forever, if they found the Aqua de Vida... She took one last look up at the stars, herself, and smiled...and whispered good night to the deep shadows and dark sails that were their home, the mighty and legendary Black Pearl... _

_Elizabeth closed the door behind her... and she knew that this ship, the captain's true lady love, would always steadfastly and comfortingly rock the handmade cradle in their cabin... the cradle with a little handcarved lamb upon the polished headboard... The Black Pearl was a member of the family, also, lovingly rocking them all to sleep upon the boundless, beautiful sea..._

_And as she finally crawled into the snug bunk that she and her husband shared, she sent up an apology to her father... she thought that he would understand that William... Joshamee... Jack...Turner... was a much better name for the littlest pirate of them all... the littlest of all of the ties that bind..._

THE END


End file.
